Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

"Thank you so much to the Elks DAP, the nation's largest drug education program, for sponsoring this video. The Elks is a safe space for kids and their families to go and be themselves while still being a part of the community. Contact them to find out more!"

- Courtney

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks, is an American fraternal order founded in 1868 originally as a social club in New York City, with its is in Chicago, Illinois. The order is organized on five levels: the national ("grand") level, regional level, state level ("State Associations"), district level, and the local lodge level ("Subordinate Lodges"). The highest level is the Grand Lodge, which meets in annual conventions and elects all the officers of the order, including the Grand Exalted Ruler (the CEO), Grand Secretary, Grand Esteemed Leading Knight, Grand Esteemed Loyal Knight, Grand Esteemed Lecturing Knight, Grand Treasurer, Grand Tiler (in charge of regalia), Grand Inner Guard, and Grand Trustees.

The BPOE is involved in a variety of charitable activities, primarily including veteran services and youth programs including memorials and remembrance, the Army of Hope (serving families of deployed service members), granting scholarships, a golf program, raising drug awareness. The BPOE, with a strict rule that only allows memberships to Americans, conduct bond drives, promote civil defense programs, and observe Flag Day.

The BPOE, specifically its Drug Awareness Program (DAP), is an infrequent sponsor on Smosh Pit, having sponsored two episodes of Squad Vlogs in October 2017 and 2018 alongside the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to promote drug awareness. Both videos involved members of the Smosh Squad seeing alternate, drug-abusing versions of themselves.