![Crestview Elks Lodge 2624 members donated funds toward the repair of a walk-in freezer to Crestview Manor, an assisted living facility on North Pearl Street in Crestview. Keely McNeal, resident care coordinator, accepts a check from the lodge's Exalted Ruler, Bob Daniel, Wednesday at the facility. [RENEE BELL | NEWS BULLETIN]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-5fd77146-1d52-20cc-e053-0100007f9d53-ccc21361.jpeg)
CRESTVIEW — Crestview Elks Lodge 2624 has donated $1,600 to help a local assisted living facility repair its walk-in freezer.
"It will not complete the repairs, but it will help us meet our goal. It was so wonderful for the Elks to help us," Crestview Manor Director Becky Brice-Nash said. The repair will cost about $10,000.
"I deliver food here every Monday for (Crosspoint Methodist of Crestview)," the lodge's Exalted Ruler, Bob Daniel, said. "And in discussion with the folks back in the kitchen, I found out that their freezer was broken, so what better way to help in the community than to provide a $1,500 (donation) — which we added a hundred bucks to make it $1,600, so they can cover the cost of fixing the freezer.
"So when we bring food and bread, etc., they can freeze it and then use it at a later date, as opposed to just bringing the stuff into the walk-in cooler and having to use it or throw it away when it goes bad."
The funding comes from the $1,500 Lodge 2624 members raised from donations and several grant applications they completed. It took them over two months to raise the money, which also honors the 150th anniversary of the Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks.
The freezer and a second walk-in at the facility will also enable the facility to store fresh food, including weekly bread donations from local Publix stores.
"Publix has actually started donating day-old bread products, and we have not been able to freeze them. At the new Publix we'll be able to go every Thursday and pick up fresh bread, and when we get that freezer repaired, we can allow for more freshly made meals to be accepted and stored," Brice-Nash said.
Crestview Manor is a nonprofit facility, purportedly one of just two area facilities that accept people with Medicaid. The other is Twin Cities Pavilion in Niceville.
"We just really appreciate things like this (as a nonprofit)," the manor's resident care coordinator, Keely McNeal, said. "We get donations here to fix things, to buy new products for residents, so we are just super-excited and super-thankful."
Brice-Nash said Crestview Manor gets a lot of assistance from local groups like Hub City Barbecue, Pic-N-Sav, Panera Bread, all the churches and others.
"We get so much help, but when we're looking at a large monetary donation, that's the largest problem," she said.
As for the freezer?
"With all the people we have in the community, we're going to get it repaired very soon," she said.
The Crestview News Bulletin's YouTube channel features these videos:
- Crestview Manor Resident Care coordinator discusses Crestview Elk Lodge 2624's donation: https://youtu.be/5JJopFO7PBo
- Crestview Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Bob Daniel discusses the reason for the donation: https://youtu.be/lPSF_yU-Rqk
ONLINE
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Super-excited and super-thankful'