June 22nd - "Angel Mail" Works!
Dear friend of the Masonic Angel Fund,
Back in 2000, our webmaster (Mario Mere) established a "list server" for the
Masonic Angel Foundation. Most of you know this as the "Angel Mail" system.
Angel Mail allows one to send a single email to
angelfund@listserver.blackwidowweb.net and have it broadcast to the entire
subscriber list.
We intended Angel Mail to become a forum where MAF volunteers and patrons could
communicate and help each other with benevolences, fund raising and other
matters pertinent to the Masonic Angel Fund program. Honestly, not too many
folks have used Angel Mail... up until last week.
The past five days have seen two constituent Masonic Angel Funds utilizing Angel
Mail to request assistance with financially-challenging benevolences. The first
was Matthew Monroe from King Hiram's Lodge, who requested assistance in finding
golf clubs for a boy in foster care. The second was Jim Ray from Joseph Warren-Soley
Lodge, who requested help in securing a computer for a military family in his
community.
We were delighted to see the response delivered by the online community of
Masonic Angels and those who support our work.
Matt Monroe reports that a set of Jack Nicklaus Golden Bears clubs with a bag
was donated within a few hours of our initial broadcast of his request. The
donation was received from Patrick Jones, who lives near Chicago, Illinois. We
note that there are no Masonic Angel Funds in Illinois - this man is simply a
friend who subscribes to our e-list.
Many other responses were received on the golf club request. Saturday morning I
received a call on the Foundation line from a Lodge that was holding a yard sale
and happened to have a set of golf clubs!
When Jim Ray requested a used computer for a military family in his community,
several readers came forward with offers. Michael Kramer of Falmouth, MA donated
a two-year-old Compac Presario notebook computer within a few hours of the
broadcast. In addition to offers from many individuals, we also received offers
of assistance from Overlook Visiting Nurses Association (offering to repair the
old machine or to donated a surplus machine) and a Boston area public relations
firm that wanted to secure the donation of a new computer.
Angel Mail Works! Our subscribers are a motivated, compassionate group of
people. Many of them are Masons but a lot of them are not - they're just folks
who care about kids and who respect MAF's "100% of the money goes to the kids"
philosophy.
If your local Masonic Angel Fund has a need with which you could use assistance,
please send an email to
angelfund@listserver.blackwidowweb.net - we will broadcast it to the entire
Angel Mail subscriber list. Perhaps you will see the kind of response Matt
Monroe and Jim Ray saw this week!
Regards to all,
Robert W. Fellows, Co-Founder/Managing Director
Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc.