Five Mile Prairie Grange earns honors for community work

From staff reports

Five Mile Prairie Grange 905 has been recognized as a 2023-24 Distinguished Grange by the National Grange. The National Grange will recognize a record 40 community granges and four state granges at the 158th annual convention of the National Grange in Bettendorf, Iowa, in November.

Five Mile Prairie Grange is one of three granges in the nation to have earned this award for all 15 years of the Distinguished Grange program’s existence. About 1,400 grange chapters are active in the nation.

To qualify for the Distinguished Grange award, Five Mile Prairie Grange submitted a recap of its Grange and community service activities from July 2023 through June to the National Grange. These included service programs in partnership with Light a Lamp for mental health, Duffels for Darlings, and Words for Thirds dictionaries for third-graders; an educational presentation on water bath canning; and public events including Pancakes with Santa and the Easter Bunny, Pie Night, Paint and Snack, and bunco.

Five Mile Prairie Grange is also being recognized as a “Golden” Distinguished Grange.

As a part of its application and its work during the year, Golden Distinguished Granges presented workshops, seminars or programs on mental health in rural America, which has been a focus topic for the National Grange for the past several years.

Five Mile Prairie Grange regularly holds free, family-friendly, fun events at the historic Grange Hall located at 3024 W. Strong Road, Spokane. For more information, visit grange.org/fivemileprairiewa905/ or email fivemilegrange@hotmail.com.