On the week of Aug. 15, Lake Oconee Elks Lodge #2849 participated in the Elks Dictionary Program.  

The program is designed to give free dictionaries to all third-grade students in the area.  

The Lake Oconee Elks Lodge supports Greene, Morgan, and Hancock counties.  The lodge traveled more htna 344 total miles to distribute 758 dictionaries. It took 55 1/2 hours to complete the distribution and presentations.  

The Dictionary Project was founded in 1995 by Mary French of Charleston, S.C. It’s primary focus is to promote literacy to children in third-grade as they transition from learning how to read to identify and use information.

Over the course of the program nearly 15 million third-grade students have received dictionaries including about 2.5 million dictionaries donated in 2009. There are 600 lodges that actively participate in the program.