Virginia Moose Association

Moose International

Community Service

________________________________________________________________

Food Drive

The Women of the Moose sponsored a food drive to support the Loudoun Interfaith Relief. The mission of Loudoun Interfaith Relief, Inc., is simple, yet critically important to the lives of thousands of residents in Loudoun County: feed the hungry by providing emergency food assistance to those in need to any person or family living in Loudoun County. (See http://www.interfaithrelief.org for more information on Loudoun Interfaith Relief, Inc)

A special "Thank You" goes out to all of our members for contributing to the food drive. We delivered 279 lbs. of food to Interfaith shortly before Thanksgiving. More is currently being collected. We will do one more delivery just before Christmas if anyone would like to contribute some more.

This year our WOTM Chapter also held a Senior Dinner for 35-40 of our local senior citizens. This was a Thanksgiving themed dinner that was held the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was a great success.

___________________________________________________

Tommy Moose Safety Day

Joanne Saylor

Tommy Moose Safety Day was held jointly with our Fall Picnic on September 26th . Both events were a huge success. We passed out 40 "ID kits" with the Leesburg Police Dept., five cases of Tommy Moose (dolls) and the Inova Hospital Mobile Clinic (which was on-site) did 80 Flu shots.

_________________________________________________

August 2009

Our Lodge received two requests for donations, which were approved at the LOOM Officers meeting August 17th. We are giving Taylor White $1000.00 to help with her Heart Surgery (see Rachel Robinson's letter below re "Taylor White's Heart Surgery") and $500.00 for "Laptops for the Wounded" (see Patrick Simpson's letter re "Laptops for the Wounded ").

Taylor White Heart Surgery
($1000 Donation)

Dear Mr. Keefer ,   

My name is Rachel Robinson.  Recently my niece, Taylor White, who is 10 years old, was told that she would have to have a heart transplant.  Her parents, Sabrina Welsh and Jason White are hard working and loving parents who have tried to make ends meet with mounting medical and travel expenses from Winchester/Stephens City to Pittsburgh.  
Born prematurely at 32 weeks' gestation, Taylor's heart showed weakness at birth. We were told that Taylor wouldn't make it through the night. Then, at 8 months old, she turned blue. We thought a transplant would be needed then, but Taylor responded to medication, and came home from the hospital with eight prescriptions.  
Recently, Taylor received an MRI at the University of Virginia Hospital, and Sabrina and Jason learned that Taylor's Cardiomyopathy (weakened heart) had become restricted Cardiomyopathy, meaning that blood flow was restricted in her heart. 
She underwent surgery to help with the condition in March, and we learned that Taylor needed a new heart.
In summary, we are trying to alleviate some of the financial hardships that Sabrina and Jason are facing with travel and accommodations in Pittsburgh.  We are a very loving family and we are doing all we can to meet those requirements, but we need help.
A friend had mentioned that the MOOSE is a very caring organization and helps the community if they can.  Taylor faces some very serious challenges in the coming months, and having her Mother and Father with her throughout her medical procedures would be so important to Taylor.  We are trying to raise $10,000 as soon as we can as Taylor is on the transplant list and could be called in at anytime for surgery when a heart is available.  
I appreciate anything your Lodge(s) can do.  And after Taylor's surgery, and her new heart is beating strong, she can come to the Moose Lodge and share her angelic smile with you all.  Your kindness and generosity will help Taylor live a long and wonderful life.

Thank you very much,                               

Rachel Robinson
430 Mosby St.
Winchester, VA 22601
540-664-3203

Laptops for the Wounded

($500 Donation)

Rick & Billy,

On October 10, 2009, my company NJVC, will be holding a Charity Poker Run to benefit Laptops for the Wounded.  Laptops for the Wounded is a charitable organization that provides laptops with webcams to wounded troops in military hospitals so that they can communicate with loved ones while recovering from their combat injuries.  The charity poker run will begin and end at Spanky's Shenanigans and will consist of a century (100 miles) motorcycle ride that will stop in Shepherdstown WV, Williamsport MD, & Fredrick MD.

I am hoping that the Leesburg Moose would be interested and able to provide a donation for this charity event.  By providing a donation the Leesburg Moose will be listed on the flyer advertising the event.  In addition to supporting our wounded troops, this will provide a good means to get the Lodge's name out there which will hopefully provide a return with new membership.  I apologize for the short notice but since the donors will be listed on the flyers advertising the event we would like to have the donations in the next week or two so that we can complete the flyers and print them up (if this is too short of a notice then a guarantee for a donation might also work).  Some additional information is in the attached file which is a formal letter to prospective donors.

I wanted to bring this to the both of you but I know that I am not always in the Lodge when you guys are there.

Please let me know if you have any questions and if you would like me to present this to the LOOM Officers Meeting on August 17th.  Thank you for the consideration.

Patrick Simpson
Project Manager ___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

Scholarship Awarded to Danielle Sova

A $1000 Golf Scholarship was awarded to Danielle Sova on May 4th, 2009.  She is from Loudoun County and will be attending GMU where she will play golf.  The $1000.00 scholarship proceeds were from last years Leesburg Moose Golf Tournament.  The check was presented by the current Board of Officers. Danielle's parents Andy and Darla Sova attended the award ceremony.

Wrestling:  Leesburg Moose Lodge Hospitality a Hit

On January 2nd, our Lodge hosted seven wrestling teams who participated in the Spartan Slam Duals in a night of food and fun. Danny Doane set up a spaghetti dinner for 200 wrestlers from the Broad Run wrestling tournament. The wrestlers and coaches had a wonderful meal and great entertainment. Scott Q Entertainment provided music.

The following article was published on the LoudounPrepSports.com website following the event.

“Wrestling: Leesburg Moose Lodge Hospitality a Hit

Published: 01/06/2009

By J.J. Totaro

Special to LoudounPrepSports.com

Ashburn (Jan. 6, 2009) - In a wonderful display of community outreach, the Leesburg chapter of the Moose, the Leesburg Moose Lodge #1041, hosted a dinner in conjunction with the Spartan Slam Duals held at Broad Run High School this past weekend. The dinner was a huge hit and included not only food, but karaoke and fun for the kids and their coaches.

Long time Moose member, and Loudoun County trip driver Danny Doane, and his fellow members offered to host the dinner to the Broad Run coaches mere weeks before the tournament. The Spartan staff graciously agreed and the event was in motion. While Broad Run ran the tournament with teams traveling from New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Danny and the Moose members were busy passing directions out to other bus drivers, setting up the banquet hall, and preparing pasta and sauce, as well as salad and rolls for over 200 kids.

This was no small dinner, and not just for the three Loudoun teams in the tournament; this was a dinner offered to every team in the tournament, including their managers and coaches.

"It was an incredible offer. One that really caught us off guard at first. We were glad to be able to do it and it went so well," said Broad Run Coach John Puterio.

And went well it did.

Seven of the 10 teams came to eat and enjoy. Beacon High School (NY) wrestlers belted out like Michael Jackson via the karioke machine, and they were soon followed by the other schools.

"It was great to see these kids who had competed against each other all day long, sit there and sing and eat together like they had known each other for years," said Puterio.

The coaches from every school expressed their extreme gratitude for the hospitality of the Moose Lodge and the Broad Run coaching staff, but the members were just as appreciative of the opportunity to do it.

"We love to do things for the community. We want people to know we are more than just a social group; we do things for the community," said Doane who was more than willing to set up the event. "I have been driving these guys a long time, over seven years I guess, its the least I can do with the friendship we have."

The Broad Run coaches shared the sentiment.

"Danny has driven us anywhere and everywhere. He has got to be one of the best we have had,"  Puterio said, "It is wonderful that we were able to pull this thing together in such a positive way."

Community is always the most important thing, and the Leesburg Moose Lodge showed its desire and ability to serve not only the local community, and the larger population of visitors that came to the small town of Ashburn. Having events like this reminds us what a great area we live in, as well as showing other areas how great this area really is.”

J.J. Totaro is an assistant wrestling coach at Broad Run High School