WESTFIELD—For Westfield-West Springfield Elks Lodge member Donna Slocombe, helping veterans is what pushes her.
Slocombe, who lives in Florence, received the State Elk of the Year award from the fraternal organization on June 11. The award, which recognizes the work of a member for their community, is considered to be the most prestigious a member can receive.
“I was shocked,” Slocombe said with a laugh about being given the award.
“The gentlemen behind me who have the award are all such wonderful people, and it’s such an honor just to be within their ranks now,” she said.
Slocombe’s work has revolved around volunteering for veterans, including serving at the Holyoke Soldier’s Home and the VA Hospital in Leeds. She is also volunteering at the upcoming 5K run/walk June 25 for Lift, a nonprofit group that works to get veterans gym memberships to help cope with stress.
“You don’t know how the little things you can do for a veteran makes them so happy,” Slocombe said. “And I always leave feeling like they did more for me than I did for them.
“The best thing you can do for a veteran is just spend time with them,” she said.
Slocombe said that her inspiration has come from a number of places, but one specific moment came during her work at the Irwin Army Hospital, in Fort Riley, Kansas, where her then-husband served in the Army.
“I worked with medivacked patients and a lot of them were working, doing small jobs at the hospital because they could do some things,” Slocombe said. “And that inspired me because they had the drive… it was an eye opener for me.”
After her time at Fort Riley, Slocombe did a variety of volunteer work for veterans and receiving awards for the work, then. But eventually, it stopped.
“I had been active in the VFW when I was a lot younger,” she said. “Then when I had children I didn’t have time for a lot of the other things.
So I found myself sitting at home at night, watching TV, and thought I had to get back into community service.”
After looking into several organizations she decided on the Elks because she felt that they did the most for veterans. She joined the Northampton Elks Lodge in 2002, and eventually moved to the Westfield-West Springfield Lodge around 2008, where she has been since.
And this is where Slocombe has received two of her most prized awards—State Elk of the Year and President’s Call to Service Award, an award presented on behalf of the President of the United Sates for those who complete 4,000 hours of community service.
But for Slocombe, it’s not about the awards.
“We do the best we can to be good neighbors and to be a benefit to our community,” Slocombe said.
