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Caring and Concern: Masonic Charities
http://www.masonicinfo.com/caring.htm

We've put together some separate pages on some Masonic charities and you can click on those in the left margin. They are the very visible ones which many will recognize. In addition, though, there are many, many others which address health concerns.

Kids Helping Kids

The International Order of Job's Daughters plays an important role in serving the community, visiting hospitals and homes for the elderly to offer friendship to people who might be lonely and sad. They have food drives and other activities to provide for the less fortunate.

Their charity, the Hearing Impaired Kid's Endowment (The HIKE Fund), provides hearing assistive devices for children in need. Popular "hikes for HIKE," provide a special charitable service to communities. Their work with hearing-impaired children has led many local groups, called Bethels, to learn sign language. These young women are rightfully proud to be "kids helping kids! "

The Small Island with the Large Heart

Jersey is the smallest Province of the United Grand Lodge of England, supporting just eleven Lodges. Jersey, however, is not within the United Kingdom, having been a possession of the Duke of Normandy long before 1066. It is part of the Channel Islands and is an island of just 45 square miles, situated about fourteen miles off the coast of France.

Freemasonry in Jersey is alive and well despite its size and tribulations which included the sacking of their Masonic Temples by Hitler's troops. In 1996/7 their donations to charity totaled £35,000. Of this, £17,000 was given to the Masonic Trust for Boys and Girls but local charities who benefited during this period included The Order of St.John - £5,500 was donated to supply specialized equipment for ambulances [neck collars, spinal boards, life support resuscitation items]; The Jersey Health Service - £6,750 was donated to purchase paramedic equipment used in front line ambulances, to measure oxygen status and other vital signs of critically ill patients; National Autistic Society - £3,100 to purchase a lightwriter machine to enable a seven year old boy to communicate; Motor Neurone Disease Association £3,100 to help purchase equipment for a Jersey family [mother of three young children, greatly handicapped by the disease]; and Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide £250 to assist with the costs of setting up a local branch.

Having raised a total of some £600,000 for Masonic and non-Masonic charities over the past 37 years, our Jersey Brethren can be rightfully proud of their Masonic charity -- and all this with a total of only some 700 Masons!

Canadian Scottish Rite Cares

At its Annual Session in 1964 the Scottish Rite of Canada's Supreme Council resolved to establish a vehicle through which to practice that virtue that every mason professes to admire -- namely charity. Their Foundation was established and provided that all donations would be immediately capitalized but only the income earned by the capital -- to the extent of at least 90% -- would be required to be disbursed annually.

The terms of incorporation, were designed to permit the Foundation to support one or more charities which carried on its work solely within Canada, and to vary the selection as it saw fit. However, from its incorporation the Directors resolved to concentrate its efforts in support of research into the causes of and hopefully eventual cure of, intellectual disability, initially as it affected children, and later, as well, as it affected persons of advanced years in the form of Alzheimer's Disease.

The Foundation has worked closely with the Roeher Institute, which is recognized for its expertise in the field of research affecting persons with an intellectual impairment and other disabilities. Research is funded by the Foundation through the Institute.

The Institute provides professional assistance to the Foundation in the adjudication of requests for bursary and research awards, and in the choice of major grant recipients in physical/biological and socio/economic research. Millions of dollars have been disbursed as the result of the generosity of donors, members of the rite, and others.

Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center

Part of the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center, the University of Minnesota Cancer Center was established in 1991 to bring together the university's cancer-related research, education, patient care and community outreach efforts. More than 300 individuals from a variety of disciplines are members of the Cancer Center.

The Masonic Cancer Research Building opened in 1996 and provides Cancer Center researchers a state-of-the-art environment for multidisciplinary research. The $20.4 million building was funded through private donations, including a $5million donation from the Masonic Cancer Center Fund.

The University of Minnesota has been a leader, nationally and internationally, in cancer research and patient care for decades. The Cancer Center is especially strong in the areas of leukemia, childhood cancers, bone tumors, women's cancers, head and neck cancers and cancer prevention. Noteworthy achievements by faculty include:

The first successful bone marrow transplant for immune deficiency and lymphoma
and a pioneer in the use of umbilical cord blood for transplants.

Major contributions to increasing the survival rate for children's cancers from 10
percent in 1959 to 70 percent today.

Pioneering the establishment of medical oncology as a formal discipline.

Discovering the cancer-preventing qualities of many foods, including cabbage and
related vegetables.

Being among the first to note the health hazards of cigarette smoking and the
addictiveness of nicotine.

Another example of Masonic Caring Concern....

Located on the grounds of the Masonic Home in Utica, New York, USA, The Masonic Medical Research Laboratory has been doing important work since its creation 40 years ago to conduct basic biomedical research, with an emphasis on heart disease.

The lab research has had nationwide and worldwide attention. The dozen international research scientists at the local lab pool their expertise to explore the many manifestations of heart disease. The Laboratory is also committed to providing education and training to basic scientists and clinical researchers who would perpetuate and extend the fight against disease. 84% of the Laboratory's budget goes to research and Masons from various parts of the United States and the world are pleased to participate in their support.

The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, USA has matching grants under which a local Lodge can donate or raise up to $5,000 for a local need and receive a matching amount from their Grand Lodge, effectively doubling the money involved. So far, lodges have used this program has helped programs such as Easter Seals, school citizenship awards, historical preservation projects, social service centers, YMCA's/YWCA's, boys and girls baseball leagues, American Red Cross, neighborhood playgrounds, police force K-9 dog, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Multiple Sclerosis Society, hospital volunteer services, post prom parties, D.A.R.E. programs, food banks, Acacia Fraternity, Leukemia Society, flood control projects, American Cancer Society, Big Brothers /Big Sisters, Scholarships, Boy Scouts, youth soccer leagues, Habitat for Humanity, band uniforms, purchase school computers, United Way, community center construction, volunteer fire departments, neo-natal care facilities, school fitness equipment, Special Olympics and more!

Amaranth Diabetes Foundation

Since the establishment of this Foundation in 1979, the Order of Amaranth has donated in excess of $3.0 million, as of June 1998, to diabetes research. The Foundation turns every dollar it collects over to the American Diabetes Association for research aimed at finding a cure for diabetes. These stellar efforts on the part of Amaranth members was recognized by the American Diabetes Association in 1996 when they presented the Order the "Charles H. Best Medal" for distinguished service in the cause of Diabetes.

The Organization of Triangles, Inc. is a fraternal organization located in the State of New York, for girls aged 11 through 21 years. For over seventy years, the Organization of Triangles, Inc., has been helping to prepare girls to build "A Finer American Womanhood". The Organization of Triangles, Inc., takes pride in its philanthropic identity. As Triangle teaches the virtues of respecting and loving mankind, charitable acts are but one of the many material embodim ents of this lesson. Triangle's main philanthropic focus is the manifestation of funds towards the aid of crippled children. However, Triangle girls spend hundreds of hours each year working in nursing homes, children's facilities, and fundraising to aid such worthy causes. They take pride in their accomplishments, and in return receive the gratification of aiding someone less fortunate than themselves.

Some charities which have been supported by Triangle include the Shriner's Childrens Hospitals, St. Jude's Fund for Children, Save the Children, Amnesty International, the Seeing-Eye Dog Fund for the Blind, as well as various nursing homes, including St. Alban's Veterans' Home, and the Franklin Nursing Home for the Elderly. Many activities for the Triangle incorporate visitations to such facilities, an example being serving a picnic lunch to theveterans on Memorial Day. Activities such as fundraising dinners and dances not only are fun for the girls and their friends, but do an invaluable service to the community.

The Grand Lodge of Tennessee sponsors an Organ Donor Awareness Program. Today some 60,000+ Americans await organ donors to help save their lives. This program, chaired by a heart transplant recipient and Past Master of his lodge, is being spread throughout Tennessee through the efforts of Masons and their Grand Lodge. We urge everyone to consider organ donor programs and congratulate Bro. Jones and his committee for their excellent work in this field! You can contact him about this wonderful program by clicking here and tell him that masonicinfo.com sent you!

This page will be growing and growing
just as Freemasonry's charity is growing and growing!