May 7, 2004 - Masonic Angel
Foundation Update -
MASONS MAKING A DIFFERENCE"
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MAFS
We are pleased to welcome the following new Masonic Angel Funds:
#83 Botetourt Lodge #7, Gloucester, VA 04/02/2004
#84 Winslow Lodge #260, Winslow, IN 04/06/2004 (This is our 4th MAF in Indiana)
#85 Madison Lodge #93, Madison, NJ 03/24/2004
Since the Universal Lodge carries license #0, this places us at 86 Masonic Angel
Funds in nine states.
BENEVOLENCE STORIES
There are far too many recent benevolences to list them all individually.
Here we list a few "bullet items" to illustrate the work our constituent MAF's
are doing:
Nauset Light Lodge (Orleans-Chatham, MA) and The St.
Andrew Fund provided tuition for a four-year-old girl to attend Tae
Kwon Do lessons. Why would a four-year-old girl want to do that? Well, the Head
Start program staff recommended that she take dance or ballet in order to
improve her movement and motor skills (far less expensive than formal therapy).
However this youngster is more of a "tom boy" and wanted to take the program the
boys in her situation usually take.
Joseph Warren-Soley Lodge (Lincoln, MA)
provided assistance for three boys (5, 5 and 6) requiring deep sensory vests,
orthodics for a six-year-old girl and assistance for a family with one child
critically ill in a Boston hospital. JWSMAF is one of our newer groups but has
served over thirty youngsters since November 2003.
Universal Lodge (Orleans, MA) purchased
eyeglasses for two boys, assistance to a family with a cancer-stricken
seven-year-old boy (with siblings at home) and for child advocacy services for a
nine-year-old boy with severe emotional problems.
St. Alban's Lodge (Foxboro, MA) offered
tuition assistance to enable six children to participate in the Southeastern
Massachusetts Arts Collaborative's "summer institute" program. The Foxboro
Masons provided a campership for a sixth grade boy to attend a specialized
summer camp to help with his social and emotional issues and helped a
fourteen-year-old boy attend an afterschool archery enrichment program.
Needham Masonic Angel Fund (Needham, MA)
provided more summer camperships than we can count! NMAF also purchased clothing
for a third and fourth grade boy. Through the usual creative shopping done by
our nurse-liaisons, both youngsters were outfitted for the princely sum of only
$83.78.
Please share your benevolence stories so that we might share them with others in
the MAF community.
SUMMER BENEVOLENCE REQUESTS
If you haven't already gathered it from the benevolence stories above, we
are well into "campership season"!
Many new to the Masonic Angel Fund do not realize that late spring and early
summer are a very busy time for MAF trustees. Every community we serve has
literally dozens of children who need to be in a safe, structured summer program
so that their parents may work and continue to earn a living. For some kids this
takes the form of a "summer rec program" in the local community, for others it
has a more academic slant. Some youngsters will benefit from a "sleep-away camp"
experience - most especially those with self esteem and socialization issues.
Are we "sending kids on vacation" during the summer? Absolutely not! These
benevolences are recommended by our professional contacts in the schools often
because the child will be virtually unsupervised if not for enrollment in summer
programs. Other kids are referred to such programs because of their own unique
social and educational development issues.
Between now and June 1st all of us should outreach our schools to determine
where summer program assistance is necessary.
"HELPFUL HINT" ON OUTREACH
When we come across the annual report of a somewhat inactive Masonic Angel
Fund, we usually contact them to see where the Foundation can help to make them
more active. Every time we call one of these groups, we hear the same thing -
"We talked to the principal and no one every called us."
That probably means they talked to the wrong person!
When your MAF first accesses a school it is appropriate to introduce the
"Masonic Angels" to the principal - and then find out who is to serve as contact
for the school. In most cases, the principal is far too busy to take this upon
himself/herself. Often these administrators have regrettably little direct
contact with the children on a day-to-day basis. In small schools, we have found
it best to suggest that the nurse might be the best person to work with MAF. In
larger school districts, there is often a social worker who can serve as liaison
with MAF.
If you're not hearing from your schools then go visit them and take a more
proactive stance. Some of our MAF trustees even share the benevolence anecdotes
from these broadcasts to give their school contact a flavor for what MAF can do
for the children they serve.
BOSTON FIRST FUND'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Thursday, May 27th at 7:30 p.m. - Grand Lodge Masonic Building
The Boston First Fund will host "An Evening of Sharing for a Year of Sharing" on
May 27th at the Grand Lodge building in Boston. The purpose of this event is to
share stories of the Boston First Fund's first year of MAF charity. Speakers
from several children's programs served by the BFF will be present to share
their experiences with the excellent work of the Boston First Fund. The evening
is underwritten by Mount Lebanon Lodge. The program will be followed by light
refreshments and a chance to get to know the folks who made the BFF's first year
a splendid success. Donations are most welcome.
BENEVOLENCE BUILDER GRANTS!
We are pleased to report a new round of Benevolence Builder Grants have been
funded by The Lodge of St. Andrew. This grant program runs from April 1, 2004
through June 30, 2004 or until the funds are exhausted. As with the fall-winter
BBG program, Massachusetts Masonic Angel Funds may apply for a 50% reimbursement
of benevolences conferred during the grant period.
To apply for a Benevolence Builder Grant simply email the particulars to
info@masonicangelfund.org
BROCHURES AND COIN CANISTERS ARE IN!
If you are in need of coin canisters or MAF brochures, you will be pleased
to know that both have arrived here in quantity.
Please email with your orders for brochures and coin canisters. The brochures
are free but we ask that you reimburse the Foundation for the cost of postage.
Coin canisters are $1.17 plus shipping - this reflects our cost to purchase them
in bulk.
BECOME A MEMBER OF THE MASONIC ANGEL FOUNDATION, INC.
As of a recent by-law revision, any member in good standing of a Lodge that
holds a Masonic Angel Fund License may apply for membership in the Masonic Angel
Foundation, Inc. Annual dues are $25. Members are entitled to participate in
meetings of the corporation and to attend meetings of the Board of Directors.
If you would like to become a member, please send an email to
info@masonicangelfund.org - we
will email you an application form in MS Word format. Generally, new
applications for membership will be acted upon at the next meeting of the
membership held after the application is received. New members must pass a
unanimous ballot of the Foundation members present.
SHARE YOUR GOOD NEWS!
Please use our list server (angelfund@listserver.blackwidowweb.net)
to share your benevolences and news with others in Masonic Angel Fund family.
You also may email your questions and stories to info@masonicangelfund.org
Better still, if you hold a fund raiser or do some special project in your
community send us photographs and a "press release" for the web site.
Remember, this web site and the email broadcasts are everyone's forum to share
and learn about how we all operate our Masonic Angel Funds.
Regards to all,
Bob Fellows
Managing Director/Board Secretary
Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc.