A large jar full of nickels can go a long way — even if the coins are made of wood.

On Saturday, members of the Dowagiac Elks traveled to the Battle Creek VA Medical Center to deliver more than $600 worth of food, toiletries, books and other goods for the veterans living there. The Elks members stuck around after dropping off the donation, helping the center run a couple games of bingo.

The donation came as a result of the club’s ongoing wooden nickel program.

Club members hand out wooden tokens to visitors at their weekly Friday dinners, which the patrons may place in a jar displaying the name of a local charity or cause at the end of the night. In December, the club counts the number of nickels inside the jars and donates the appropriate amount of money to the recipients, said Dick Morey, a member of the Dowagiac Elks.

“[The veterans hospital] is always one of the bigger ones people put their chips into,” Morey said.

Elks members have visited the Battle Creek VA every year for decades, Morey said. The Dowagiac club is just one of many service organizations that offers its time and energy to supporting the veterans who live there, not only through donations but through talking and playing games with the residents, he said.

“They always love playing bingo,” Morey said. “They have a lot of fun when we visit.”

Area veterans are one of two major groups Elks members mainly support through donations, the other being students and children, Morey said. The organization recently awarded two Dowagiac Union High School students, Kayla Cromer and Ted Bjork, with college scholarships, and is planning to donate $300 to the summer baseball team, Morey said.

The Elks raises money through several programs besides the wooden nickel collection every year, including a golf outing at its course outside its clubhouse at 300 Riverside Drive.

“It’s just what we do,” Morey said. “We do these fundraisers so we can give back to the community.”

The club’s Friday night dinners are open to the public. For the upcoming menu or for additional information people may contact the club at (269) 782-3889, or on Facebook.