- December 4, 2025
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At 90 years old, arthritis forced Mary Bilkie to step away from her volunteer duties with the Elks Feeding Empty Little Tummies.
The East County resident said she misses it.
Up until this school year, Bilkie packed bags of food for school children in need every Friday during the school year.
EFELT is a partnership between the Bradenton Elks Lodge No. 1511 and the Lakewood Ranch Elks Lodge No. 2855.
“Even though you don’t see the kids, you know what you’re doing and you know how the parents appreciate it,” Bilkie said. “And we joked and had fun.”
After Bilkie’s husband Larry died in 2009, she was going to quit the Elks Club because she Lodge No. 2855 was mostly made up of couples, and she didn’t want to be a “fifth wheel.”
The group convinced Bilkie to stay, and she became a devoted volunteer for any cause that came her way.
“It was the joy of my life,” she said. “They kind of saved me, you know. They gave me a purpose.”
When EFELT was formed in 2011, the nonprofit had its first volunteer in Bilkie.
She watched the program grow from volunteers walking into individual classrooms with a few backpacks full of food to a box truck delivering 150 plastic bags full of food to one school.
While the volunteers “frowned” when the switch was made from backpacks to plastic bags, Bilkie said the plastic was more practical — no more cleaning or replacing backpacks.
She couldn’t remember the exact number, but guessed that the nonprofit served about 50 kids at Freedom Elementary at the start of the program, which now serves about 550 kids across 13 Manatee County schools.
If the need is there, Executive Director Andrea Hitcho said those numbers can increase now that EFELT has secured its own storage space.
The nonprofit received a $40,000 grant from Christ Church of Longboat Key to construct a 20-foot-by-40-foot storage and prep building at the lodge on 75th Street West in Bradenton. For over a decade, EFELT bounced between free spaces at schools, churches, the YMCA and even Tropicana.
“It’s a wonderful feeling that our EFELT people will not have to go around canvassing for a new place,” Bilkie said. “Everybody has worked so hard for so long, especially people like Andrea (Hitcho). It’s a burden to have to worry every year, will we have a place?”
Space sharing worked, but it also limited what EFELT could accomplish. This past year, the operations had to be split between two donated spaces, one of which became unavailable over the summer due to a camp program.
If the nonprofit can’t store food over the summer, it also can’t purchase food when met with a good deal.
EFELT delivered 14,000 bags of food last year. Outside of bread, which is donated weekly by Bimbo Bakeries USA, the food is nonperishable, so even summer buys can last into the school year.
Each bag is filled with eight meals and/or snacks to see children through the weekend when they’re not given meals at school. For three weeks leading up to the summer break, volunteers packed double the food in the bags.
Hitcho’s hope is to eventually offer some kind of summer program, as well.
“Perhaps people have to come to us because school isn’t in session, but because we have a facility, we could potentially pack and give out stuff during the summer,” she said. “A lot of that comes down to funding.”
The overall facility will cost about $54,000, which all but a few thousand dollars is covered. In addition to the $40,000 grant, the Elks fundraised $11,000 and a member of Christ Church donated another $1,000.
However, EFELT’s annual operating budget is about $42,000. While not guaranteed, the Elks National Foundation usually provides about $7,500 to the nonprofit through its Gratitude Grant and Beacon Grant.
The bulk of expenses are covered by individual donations. Yet when EFELT sees a need, Hitcho said the budget does not stop them. The group simply rises to the occasion.
“If there are more schools that want to receive our services, we’re happy to do it,” she said. “We will figure out a way to get the money and provide what we need to.”
