The Lima Eagles lodge gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity every year.
Fraternal organizations that provide gambling for their members are required by the state to give 45% of their gambling income to charity. Doug Wise, President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #370, told us that in 2023, that amounted to a whopping $470,360, which included $5,000 to every school district in Allen County. "We have almost 4,000 members. Because of those almost 4,000 members, we can give phenomenal amounts of money to people. We dedicate our whole business to charitable giving." Doug told us that Lima's Eagles lodge is the largest in the United States. He encouraged us to join a fraternal organization, "Consider joining because a lot of charitable money goes to a lot of people in Lima/Allen County. We take care of our kids, we take care of our elderly, we take care of police and fire as well. We're very proud of that."
Also at Monday's meeting, PolioPlus Chair Keith Horner announced the kickoff of this year's PolioPlus campaign. Donations will get you entered into a drawing for some great prizes:
Two bottles of Weller Bourbon, 5 $20 lottery tickets, and a framed Allen County map.
The cost is $25 for 1 entry or 5 entries for $100. The club's PolioPlus goal is $3,000 this year.