Connecticut's Ekonk Community Grange recently received third place honors in the National Grange 2011 Community Service contest.  Ekonk Community Grange is located on the Sterling/Voluntown line.

They previously placed Best of Show in Connecticut's state-wide 2011 Community Service contest sponsored by the Connecticut State Grange, where they then proceeded on to compete at the National Grange level in Oklahoma in November.

Over 60 of Ekonk Community Grange's 144 members participated in their 2011 Community Service program, by contributing over 18,000 hours of service.  In addition, over 100 area residents supported the Grange's local efforts by contributing over 600 additional community service hours.

Ekonk Community Grange sponsored several community projects in 2011.  These projects included supporting the Home at Last housing project for veterans in Jewett City and working with the Tree of Life, instituted in Sterling for the first year.  Other on-going projects and programs include  fundraising for and participating in Sterling Family Day, donating dictionaries to third graders through the Words for Thirds project, Relay for Life sponsorship and participation, hosting the annual Earth Day poster/essay contests in area schools, donations for the local FFA chapters, adopting needy families for Christmas, and more.

More information can be found on Ekonk Community Grange and their activities by visiting their website at http://www.EkonkGrange.org, or by visiting their page on the Connecticut State Grange website at http://www.CTStateGrange.org.  Ekonk Community Grange meets on the first Monday of each month at the Grange Hall, Rte. 49, Ekonk Hill, Sterling at 7:30 PM.