MASONIC BENEVOLENCE AND MASONIC FOUNDATION

Every mason has heard two phrases form almost the day he joined his lodge, Masonic Benevolence and the Masonic Foundation.

Benevolence has been a part of Masonry since the time of operative Masons.   Each lodge had a fund to help widows and orphans.  They also assisted brethren monetarily to move on to other projects in other cities or towns.  These attributes of Masonic benevolence continued through the centuries and continue today.  We are no longer in the seventeenth century, nor are we in the twentieth century.  We still have benevolence for the widows, orphans and brethren in distress but these programs have been expanded.

No longer is the individual lodge alone.  Grand Lodge is here to assist.  Supported by the Memorial Fund there is roughly $85,000 per year to alleviate the necessities of the brethren and dependents.  One of the requirements for assistance from Grand Lodge is that each lodge has done their part first.  Due to the nature of benevolence the names of the recipients are never published which goes a long way to explain why little is known of the program.  Grand Lodge is always looking for more submissions so please consider who could benefit from your lodge.

The Ontario Masonic Foundation is the opposite side of the same coin.  Where benevolence concentrates on brethren and dependents of the brethren the Foundation concentrates on the population at large.  Contrary to having existed for centuries the Foundation was established by a special act of the Ontario legislature in 1964 and is registered with Canada Customs and Revenue agency so they can issue tax receipts.  All monies dispersed by the Foundation must be used for charitable purposes in the Province of Ontario.  On a yearly basis, depending on the financial markets, the Foundation dispenses roughly half a million dollars, the interest from $7.2 million dollars of capital.

It always amazes me how much I had never heard of what the Foundation does.  Help- 2- Hear was a very visible, high profile campaign that is still bringing in  donations which at present are at over 2.4 million dollars.  This money will be used as capital to fund a five year commitment of $105 000 a year spread over 3 universities to fund basic and clinical research.

But as I said Help - 2 - Hear was high profile. Every Mason heard about this program.  How many here heard of project HELP doing clinical research into cochlear implants and brain imaging.  The Foundation has been instrumental in the development of cochlear implants.  The government would not fund the initial research due to its cutting edge nature.  Without the funds provided by the Foundation this medical break through would not have occurred.

There is Voice, an auditory verbal therapy that allows one-on-one therapy that teaches babies to become aware of sound.

The Foundation has funded Kerry’s Place, a program for autism to allow for improved communications.

School Peer education programs focus on drug awareness and drug abuse.  The interest in this programs varies yearly but is on the rise again.

Bursaries are a large program for the Foundation.  Over the last eight years 1,275 students have received $1.1 million dollars.  Due to government funding cuts there are 20% more applications to the Foundation for bursaries this year through the awards offices at the Universities.

The Foundation is currently developing a program to help celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Masonry in Ontario and to demonstrate Masonic charity to Ontarians.

Even though I have little knowledge of the Foundation and benevolence.  I was quite taken aback by the level of donations to these programs.  Last year the yellow envelope campaign had a total of $24,000 in donations.  That corresponded to $0.38 per mason in Ontario.  If every Mason only donated $10 a year that would be $630,000 dollars.  The Memorial fund receives even lower levels of funding on a yearly basis.

There are many ways to donate to the Foundation and benevolence.  You can make a yearly donation, a lodge may donate in the name of a brother that has passed to the Grand Lodge above.  And there are bequests.  Last year 9 bequests to the Foundation totalled over $100,000 dollars: five of the 9 were from women.