Bingo, Pizza and Friendship: Elks Outreach Grows at the VA Community Living Center
Submitted by Karen Seaman, PER
In 2025, Phoenix Elks Lodge #335 was awarded a Focus Grant that enabled our Veterans Committee to provide a Bingo and Pizza Party at the Community Living Center (CLC), a short- and long-term care facility attached to the Phoenix VA Medical Center. Some residents are recovering from surgery, while others are unable to return home after a hospital stay.
The CLC currently provides care for approximately 50 residents, and beginning September 1, 2026, the opening of the second floor will allow an additional 50 veterans to receive care, comfort and companionship.
A few members of the Veterans Committee visit the CLC every week, and residents have come to look forward to those visits. Volunteers have brought puzzle books, sweets, handmade blankets and handmade placemats for veterans who eat their meals in their rooms. There is a special joy in getting to know these veterans, seeing photographs from their military service, and listening to the personal stories they are willing to share.
The monthly Bingo and pizza events have become especially meaningful. The veterans enjoy the friendly competition, the prizes, the laughter and, of course, the pizza. One resident is 105 years old, sharp as a tack, and still wins at Bingo quite often. Moments like these are a reminder that age does not diminish the need for friendship, laughter and connection.
The program has also brought the difficult reality of loss. When one of these beloved veterans is transferred to hospice and later passes away, the committee helps through hospice and feels that loss deeply. These are not simply residents the committee visits; they become people the volunteers know, care about and look forward to seeing.
Now in its second year, the Veterans Committee continues to provide Bingo, pizza, drinks, desserts and prizes to the CLC each month. It has become a warm and meaningful tradition, and the committee has every intention of continuing it for years to come.
The Adopt-a-Vet program is also growing. Phoenix Elks Lodge #335 volunteers currently visit veterans at the CLC on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and another Lodge member is being trained to add an additional day of service. The goal is to eventually have a Phoenix Elks #335 shirt present at the CLC five days a week, bringing friendship, conversation, laughter and a reminder to our veterans that they have not been forgotten.
We are proud to serve those who have served our country. For the Veterans Committee, this is more than a program — it is a privilege, a responsibility and a relationship that continues to grow with every visit.
Originally published in the October 2026 Tracks newsletter of Phoenix Elks Lodge #335. Read the full issue (PDF).
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