DOWAGIAC — Tuesday evening, members of the Dowagiac Elks Lodge gathered inside their building on Riverside Drive in Dowagiac as they waited, check in hand, for a special guest.

“We are excited,” said Thurman Chennault, drug awareness chairman for the lodge. “We are happy to be able to offer this donation.”

Tuesday, the Dowagiac Elks donated $1,500 to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office to support the office’s DARE program, which teaches school children drug abuse resistance training. Additionally, the Elks have agreed to purchase a number of educational materials for children’s anti-drug awareness for the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

“The Elks had an opportunity to put out for a grant that referenced drug awareness,” Chennault said. “We applied for and received that grant. All we had to do to get that grant was find a department that still did the DARE program, and the Sheriff’s Office did. … We decided to award it to them, so they will be receiving a check tonight.”

Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke said the donation will be used to support the DARE program and other educational programs in the school system, such as team building. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office does other drug awareness projects throughout Cass County, including visiting township and village meetings to teach municipality leaders about drug awareness.

“This money will help support those programs, specifically drug education programs,” he said. “That is very important to teach students about.”

In a letter to Elks Lodge that was sent when applying for the grant, Behnke said that the Sheriff’s Office tailors the drug awareness programs to specific audiences to have maximum impact. For example, deputies will involve K9 Nellie in presentations with younger students to engage them with the material.

“We are excited [about the grant],” Behnke said. “This gives us the opportunity to expand those programs a bit more. They are established programs already, but we are always looking for more funding and supplies to send the message to school’s that drugs are not good, that students should stay away from drugs and violence.”

Behnke said he is grateful to the Elks Lodge for the donation.

“It’s really cool to have a local community group support us,” he said. “We are thankful that they stepped up and helped the Sheriff’s Office.”

Chennault said giving the donation to the Cass County Sheriff’s follows a pattern of giving for the Elks Lodge and that he was proud to be part of an organization that gives back to its community.

“[Drug awareness] is one of the dedications of lodge,” he said. “It is important for us to give back, especially to the kids through programs like DARE.”