February 20th - FREEMASONRY AT ITS BEST!
Welcome to Our Newest Masonic Angel Funds
We are pleased to welcome our new Masonic Angel Funds:
90 Bethel-Souhegan Lodge New Ipswitch NH 11/17/2004
91 Vincennes Lodge #1 Vincennes IN 12/06/2004
92 Oxford Lodge Oxford MA 12/27/2004
Since the Universal Lodge carries license #0, this places us at 93 Masonic Angel
Funds in eleven states.
Mount Horeb Provides Medication
Last week Jim St. Pierre, trustee of the Mount Horeb Lodge (Dennis, MA) Masonic
Angel Fund received the following email from one of his school nurses:
I need some assistance for one of our students. "A" is an 8 year old boy who
is being treated for [omitted by editor]. He is followed at Children's Hospital
monthly. His medical treatment includes daily medication Presently, the family
has no insurance. They are in the process of re-applying for Mass Health. The
medication cost is $47.09. The refill is waiting at CVS in South Dennis. Mom
says that she is able to afford $20.00 toward the prescription cost. School is
closing for the February break. Please call me at (xxx-xxx-xxxx). "A" is a
really fabulous kid. Thank you for any assistance that you are able to give to
this family. Look forward to hearing from you.
We are pleased to hear that Jim was able to handle this request immediately.
A Card of Thanks
All of us that work in local Masonic Angel Funds know that the
holidays are our very busiest time of year.
We receive dozens of thank-you cards every year but most especially right after
the holidays. Below is a representative sampling of the letters received by one
Masonic Angel Fund:
To all of you Angels,
We wanted to send our thanks to you, the angel fund, the wonderful staff at
[school name omitted] who have helped make our Thanksgiving feast and our
Christmas day that much more bright in the lives of my son "C" and my foster
daughters "A" and "P". We really appreciate all of the kindness and caring and
support you have all shared with us not only throughout the holidays but since
the beginning of the school year. Thank you so very much for what you do.
Paul Revere Lodge Shines
We print below an excerpt from the notice of the Paul Revere Lodge in
Brockton, MA. Presiding Master Bruce Pratt started their Masonic Angel Fund
several years ago and has expanded it to serve nearly all of a city where the
need is very great indeed. Paul Revere Lodge is an excellent example of a MAF
that started small and then grew into a tremendous force for good in its
community.
The Paul Revere Lodge Masonic Angel Fund has had many requests for assistance
this past January. I will share a note with you, sent to the Lodge from Melissa
Shea, School Adjustment Counselor, Brockton Public Schools, and Guidance Service
Department at the Plouffe School:
"To the Masons at Paul Revere Lodge, once again I must say thank you for your
unending generosity. Because of you, a family received $200 in a Shaw's gift
card. A child received eyeglasses from Lens Crafters and another child received
a $100 gift card for clothing at Wal-Mart. Enclosed are their thank you notes.
Again, thank you... Melissa Shea"
The three children wrote their personal notes of thanks and they [the cards]
will be at the Lodge for your viewing. Brethren, as this program continues to
grow throughout the school system, it makes you cherish your membership in the
fraternity a little stronger. Many thanks to all who continue to send your
donations to the Paul Revere Lodge Masonic Angel Fund.
We note that each month Paul Revere Lodge includes a piece on MAF in their
notice. Virtually all of the funding for the PRLMAF has come from members of the
Lodge.
Universal Lodge
Excerpted from the February notice of Universal Lodge (Orleans, MA):
Your Masonic Angel Fund just completed a very active Christmas season. Once
again this year, the Universal Lodge MAF helped a number of Brewster, Orleans
and Eastham families who "would not have a Christmas" without the assistance of
the "Masonic Angels." In each case, we received a request from one of the school
nurses who then volunteered to shop for the children with the funds that MAF
made available.
In recent weeks we provided assistance with after school program tuition to
several children in Brewster and Orleans whose families were suffering financial
hardship due to medical expenses or from a parent not being able to work due to
illness. We also have one or two more pairs of eyeglasses in the works, as well.
Our Masonic Angel Fund is now in its seventh year of operation. Through the
generosity of our donors, the ULMAF has made a critical difference in the lives
of many local children.
Hope Lodge MAF (Gardner, MA) provided cats,
hats and mittens for a total of ninety-three children at Christmas.
Mount Horeb Lodge MAF (Dennis, MA) provided
Christmas to a family with two children and a widowed father. The family had
just moved into town and the father was financially strapped. MHLMAF provided a
$25 gift certificate to Toys-R-Us, a $50 grocery certificate and a $50
certificate to a local store that sells household items.
Marine Lodge (Falmouth, MA) provided
Christmas benevolence packages to fifteen children spread amongst six local
families. One of these families consisted of a great grandmother raising three
children (ages 9, 11, and 12) from two different mothers. Another was a family
of three boys whose father is incarcerated. Perhaps the most moving (to this
editor) was the family of three children (7, 11, 12) where one child has cancer
and the family is reeling under the financial and emotional pressure of such
severe medical issues.
Please share your benevolence stories with us via info@masonicangelfund.org - we
want see everyone get to share the exemplary work all of us do in the Masonic
Angel Fund.
Sometimes You Must Say "No" - But You Can Still Help...
One recent afternoon we received a call from one of the few
non-school partner agencies with which the Foundation works. We have worked
extensively with this particular agency for over a year and hold its staff in
very high regard indeed.
This request was a little bit too far outside the box, though... apparently the
caseworker had a client family of three girls and a widowed father. The family
was having major issues due to the girls' un-neutered pet cat that was
constantly spraying everything in the house. Everyone's clothing had begun to
acquire the odor of cat spray.
The father could not afford the $120 to have the cat fixed. The agency had
negotiated a 50% discount from an animal hospital, but the dad really could not
afford even $60.
Let's make this perfectly clear - MAF does not provide funds to spay or neuter a
cat.
Still, we did not want to see these girls lose their cat soon after suffering
the loss of their mother. What to do?
Fortunately, several of us here at the Foundation are patrons of the Animal
Rescue League of Greater Boston. A few emails was all it took to arrange for the
cat to be treated by the ARL's "Spay Waggin'" mobile spay/neuter unit. Because
this program is designed for pet owners in financial need, we understand that
there will be no cost for the procedure and that the vets will also give the
kitty a check-up and review of its inoculations.
Sometimes we must say "No" because a need just doesn't fit with the mission of
the Masonic Angel Fund. However, it doesn't mean we cannot refer a deserving
recipient to another potential source of assistance.
New Reporting Forms in the Mail
This week we will mail out packets of new reporting forms to each
constituent Masonic Angel Fund. Please read the cover letter which explains the
new forms and how we will all benefit from this further standardization of
reporting. Please feel free to call us if you have any questions.
Regards to all,
Bob Fellows, Co-Founder/Board Secretary
Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc.