T-L Photo/KAILEY CARPINO Ohio River Valley Elks Lodge 231 donates $2,500 to the After Hours Academy program at Bellaire Middle School on Thursday. AHA is a 21st Century after school grant program through the Ohio Department of Education. AHA provides students with one-on-one tutoring and after-school activities. Elks members present the check to Middle School Principal Jennifer Berdine, students and AHA directors and coordinators.

BELLAIRE — Ohio River Valley Elks Lodge 231 donated $5,500 to Bellaire Middle School to support Blessings in a Backpack and the After Hours Academy on Thursday.

Of that amount, $3,000 went to Blessings in a Backpack, which provides 210 meals for elementary and middle school students on the weekends, and $2,500 went to AHA.

AHA is a 21st Century after-school grant program through the Ohio Department of Education.

Dorothy Vannest, 21st Century Grant director at East Central Ohio Educational Service Center, said the Elks support the program throughout the school year. The after-school program provides many activities for students including a cooking club.

“The Elks write grants for us because our grant doesn’t pay for food,” Vannest said.

Mary Carolyn Nichelson of the Elks Lodge is the main grant writer.

Kellie Cusick, director of Curriculum and Federal Programs at Bellaire Local Schools and an Elks member, said the students learn to make different dishes in each class.

“It’s something simple where the kids can go home and prepare it themselves,” she said.

She said the class also teaches the students about nutrition, cooking safety and food safety.

Cusick said the cooking club also helps students with math. She said the students deal with a lot of fractions when measuring out ingredients, and students have to figure out how to properly measure the ingredients.

Vannest said a lot of students struggle with food insecurities, and the AHA program’s cooking class provides students with an after-school meal.

The organization presented the check during the Thanksgiving feast held for middle and high school students and their families. Students cooked the entire meal while Elks members served.

“The kids get so excited when their parents come. They’ve been working all week getting everything prepared,” Vannest said.

Rose Durant, secretary of the Elks Lodge, said she enjoys serving the Thanksgiving dinner each year.

“It’s a really nice event for the kids,” she said.

This is the school’s 10th year hosting a Thanksgiving feast prepared by the students in the AHA program’s cooking club.

AHA provides students with one-on-one tutoring and after-school activities. The program started on Oct. 2 and runs through Apr. 18.

Vannest said the Elks have been supporting AHA for about eight years.

Alisha Parsons, site coordinator for the Bellaire Elementary, Middle and High Schools After Hours Academy programs, said she is thankful for all of the work the Elks do for the program.

Middle school Principal Jennifer Berdine said the students enjoy the AHA program.