Elks giving dictionaries to students

For the second year in a row, Fort Mill Elks Lodge 2859, which meets at 1287 Spratt St. in Fort Mill the first and third Mondays of the month, is raising money to distribute dictionaries to all third graders in Fort Mill.

The Dictionary Project, founded by Mary French in 1995, in Charleston, is designed to aid third grade teachers in their goal to see that all their students leave at the end of the year as good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers.The dictionary is for the children to keep and continue to use throughout their school career.

Many children have never had a book to call their own, Elks leaders said, and a dictionary is perhaps the first and most powerful reference tool a child should own.

Last year, the Fort Mill Elks distributed 863 dictionaries to the third graders in eight schools in the Fort Mill area. Anyone interested in contributing funds to the Fort Mill Elks Dictionary Project can do so by making checks payable to: Fort Mill BPOE #2859 and mail to Fort Mill Elks, c/o Dictionary Project, 1287 Spratt Street, Fort Mill, SC 29715.