Chehalis Order of the Eastern Star donating $130,000 to area groups

As it prepares to merge with another chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star of Washington, Chehalis Chapter No. 3 is donating the remainder of its nearly $130,000 budget to a variety of organizations within the community.

“We decided, instead of just sending it all to the state level, we’re going to invest in our community,” said chapter member and former Worthy Matron Lorraine Wood.

So far, the chapter has established an endowment fund for trades programs at Centralia College and is set to donate money to the Centralia Masonic Lodge, Hope Alliance, the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls in Centralia and Olympia, DeMolay International in Olympia and Longview and Job’s Daughters in Olympia and Longview.

The chapter is also donating money to all of the K9 programs in the Lewis County area, including Lewis County Search and Rescue, the Centralia Police Department and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Wood, alongside Associate Matron Peggy Birley and Treasurer Connie Davis, stopped by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Monday morning to deliver a $5,000 check to Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza and K9 handler Deputy Jared Kasinger, who is partnered with K9 Kimbo.

The duo has been out in the field since June 1 and is the first K9 team the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has had since now-Field Operations Bureau Chief Rick Van Wyck retired his K9 partner, Axel, about three years ago.

“Every time we get these funds, it is a blessing to us, because it truly helps the program be successful,” Snaza said Monday. “We could not have a successful K9 program without donations from the community.”

For more information about the Order of the Eastern Star of Washington, visit https://washingtonoes.org/ .