Community organizations across the country have been looking for new members, and the local chapter of The Fraternal Order of Eagles is no exception.

“We’d like to get some more, younger blood in here,” said Pat Graham, a trustee for the Powell Eagles.

The Powell Eagles 2426 is hosting an open house at its clubhouse — 131 N. Clark St. — from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday for anyone interested in becoming a member or learning more about the organization and its facilities in Powell.

Graham said the organization is looking for “anybody that’s interested in cooking or helping people or having a place that they can go and have a sociable drink and not worry about fights or anything like that.”

The Fraternal Order of Eagles is an international nonprofit organization “uniting fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice, and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope.”

In practice, that translates to millions of dollars donated to various organizations and charities. The Powell Eagles help support eight charities backed by the national organization, plus many nonprofit causes at the local level.

From aiding the Powell High School and Northwest College athletic programs to the Rocky Mountain Manor to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, “just about all of them have come looking for money at one time or another,” Graham said.

As for why he’s remained with the organization, “I just enjoy helping people, I guess,” he said.

One of the biggest benefits of being a member, Graham said, is a program that supports the children of Eagles members who die from injuries or diseases incurred while defending the country, as a volunteer first responder or while on the job. The Fraternal Order of Eagles Memorial Foundation will provide the children of those deceased members with grants for their college or post-secondary education along with providing medical assistance through age 18.

Along with hosting an open house on Wednesday, the Eagles are serving up a milk can dinner at 6 p.m.

“It’s a dinner that’s cooked in a milk can, that involves sausage, potato, cabbage, carrots,” Graham explained. The food is cooked up in 10- or 5-gallon milk cans, then served out of a metal trough. If the weather’s nice, the event may be outside — and the meal can be made to-go for those who prefer that option. The bar opens at 4:30 p.m.

“We’ve got the biggest facility in town for hosting dinners and dances,” Graham said, adding that, “I think we probably have the best prices in town as far as drinks.”

The Powell Eagles lodge recently celebrated its 77th anniversary.