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August 29, 2004 - "Angel Mail" Update

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MAFS
We are pleased to welcome our new Masonic Angel Funds:

#86 St. Matthew's Lodge, Andover, MA 05/10/2004
Since the Universal Lodge carries license #0, this places us at 87 Masonic Angel Funds in nine states.

BENEVOLENCE STORIES
Summer is one of the quieter times of year for Masonic Angel Funds. In June we see a big push to fund summer program benevolences. Once we get into July and early August thing become very quiet. With the opening of school comes an onslaught of benevolence requests as our partner educators discover "who needs what" during the first few days of school.

Here is a sampling of benevolences from the summer:
Universal Lodge's (Orleans, MA) Masonic Angels were hard at work during the summer months. They provided an eye exam and eyeglasses for a ten-year-old girl whose mother is seriously ill. Five Orleans children and one Brewster boy attended local summer programs with the assistance of the Universal Lodge Masonic Angel Fund. Structured summer programs are a terrific opportunity for children of working single parents to spend their vacation in a safe, structured program instead of staying at home unsupervised. Finally, the ULMAF made it possible for a four-year-old boy from Brewster attended two months of karate lessons to help develop his gross and small motor skills.
Needham Masonic Angel Fund (Needham, MA) provided tuition assistance so that a first-grade boy and fifth-grade boy could attend a special program to help with their social and psychomotor skills.
Wellesley Lodge Masonic Angel Fund (Wellesley, MA) help a high school senior to attend a Boston Fashion Design program. This is a special program promising students who may be considering a career in fashion design. The girl completed two courses (Fashion Sketching and Clothing Construction Lab). Her school principal states "You have truly provided support to help her set a life direction."
The Boston First Fund (Boston, MA) provided numerous benevolences throughout the summer to help youngsters to attend various summer programs, camperships, purchase of school clothing for several children, assistance with the purchase of school uniforms for a girl recently accepted to an exclusive charter school, art supplies for a high school student in foster care, clothing and a T-pass for a sixteen year old Roxbury girl whose long-term foster mother died suddenly, emergency groceries for a client of the Big Sister program,
Please share your benevolence stories so that we might share them with others in the MAF community.

"PUTTIN' ON THE GLITZ"
15th Masonic District MAF Fundraiser
The Masonic Angel Funds of the Massachusetts 15th Masonic District have once again received support from Electra Events in staging a gala fundraiser.

"Puttin' on the Glitz" will be held at Gillette Stadium on the evening of Saturday, September 11th with food stations opening at 7 and show time/dancing at 8:00.

Special appearances include: Rhonda Mann (WCVB-TV senior producer of Health Beat), The New England Patriot Cheerleaders, John Hannah (Pro Football Hall of Famer), Lonie Paxton (New England Patriot) and "Scratch" (of the Worcester Ice Cats)

Event sponsors include WCVB-TV Channel 5, Community Newspaper Company, Dunkin' Donuts, Winthrop Printing Company and Ramada Inns.

Event supporters include the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Rentabox, Bill Van Loon Studios, Bob 'n Carrol's Tours, Mr. Tux, Nathans' Jewelers, and Balloon Design with a Twist.

Reserved tickets are the only kind that are available! No tickets will be sold at the door. Black tie optional.

For more information, please call 800-757-2658.


KING HIRAM'S LODGE "ANGELS IN THE SUNSET" CRUISE
King Hiram's proudly announces a sunset cruise like never before in Provincetown. An armada of three vessels have joined forces to sponsor an evening of relaxation on one of the most scenic harbors in the world. Cruise around Provincetown Harbor and Cape Cod Bay and enjoy the breathtaking view at sunset.

Tickets are $20 for regular admission and $50 for an Admirals Pass. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar on-board. More information is available at http://www.masonicangelfund.org/AngelsInTheSunset.htm

USO "BABY BARRACKS" EXPANDS
Most readers will remember that MAF is an active participant in the USO New England Council's "Baby Barracks" program. (If you're not familiar with the Baby Barracks, get the information at http://www.masonicangelfund.org/NewsItems/newsitem66.htm )

As the baby equipment is distributed to military families in need, The St. Andrew Fund replaces each item so that there is a constant turnover of baby items to distribute families as well as a "back stock" to serve the needs of children who visit the Baby Barracks when in Boston or while passing through Logan Airport.

A few weeks ago Alice Harkins, USO-NE Executive Director, contacted us about re-stocking the Baby Barracks. At the same time, she told us that the Walt Disney corporation had provided the Baby Barracks with enough material to stock a children's library. Items donated included books, videos, DVD's, audio CD's and various Disney-themed toys. The corporation was also thoughtful enough to provide televisions and DVD players on which the kids can view the donated videos and DVD's.

Ms. Harkins was quick to point out that the Disney gift would not have been received had the corporation not been informed that she was operating two Baby Barracks. She said that should would not be operating two Baby Barracks were it not for the generous support of the MAF and Massachusetts Freemasonry.

Indeed, all Massachusetts Masons should take pride in the Craft's relationship with the USO New England Council. Support from the USO has come from several very generous Lodges, individual Masons (generous with both money and time), several Masonic Angel Funds, the St. Andrew Fund and the Grand Lodge of Masons itself.

It is truly impressive to see what the Brethren can do when they all work in a single, positive direction!


BACK TO SCHOOL - "Tea and Crumpets" Redux
The article below is re-printed from an Angel Mail broadcast of October 22, 2003. As we commence a new school year, please consider your "menu". If "tea and crumpets" still drive your itinerary, we suggest an immediate conversion to "milk and cookies".

This is a time of year when we receive quite a few annual reports from our constituent Masonic Angel Funds. It is always a pleasure to read about the activities of MAF's all over the country as they grow and evolve.

The most successful Masonic Angel Funds are those with effective school outreach programs.

We define "effective" as "giving away money". Too often in Masonry we see Lodges that accumulate thousands of dollars for a "Widows' Fund" or a "Charity Fund" and then sit there and "worship" the money. In too many cases we hoard funds and are very proud of ourselves for having lots of money in the bank.

We don't think so!

In many communities MAF has re-defined Masonic charity and fund raising. As our faithful readers know, the credo of the Masonic Angel Fund is "spend the money and go get more". We enjoy the "act" of delivering benevolence checks to the schools and we want to do it more often. Because giving "feels good" we challenge ourselves to raise money so that we always have funds available when a school calls.

Recently we receive a proud report from a constituent MAF that had accumulated some $3,700 in the past year and had given out only $600 in benevolences. Needless to say, our Foundation volunteers were not proud of that particular MAF. Upon investigation we learned that the local MAF trustees had been working exclusively through the superintendent's office and had little direct contact with the local school staff.

Wrong!

The superintendent's office is a starting point for MAF contact with schools. The purpose of that contact is to obtain introductions to the local school administration and - ultimately - to the nurses and counselors that have daily contact with the pupils. Once we get to the individual schools that is where our continued contact should be maintained. As one of our Foundation board members says, "You should be having milk and cookies with the school nurses, not tea and crumpets with the superintendent".

Our most successful Masonic Angel Funds have monthly contact with their individual school contacts. Even if it's just to say "hello", we should visit or call our schools at least once a month. For those who are new to MAF, we can tell you that November and December are our two busiest months system-wide. You should be in the schools now talking about Christmas needs and clothing for the cold weather.

For those who have been in the "MAF business" for a couple of years, we encourage you to talk to your school nurses and make certain they know the full spectrum of benevolences your MAF will provide. In our own "mother MAF" here in Orleans, we recently discovered that some of the school staff thought that we were doing only health-related work because we were using the nurse as our primary point of contact. We dispelled that notion by providing an informational flyer to be inserted in each teacher's mailbox - with information on what we can do for them and the phone numbers of our three Masonic Angel Fund trustees.

Take a look at your checkbook. If you see more money coming in than going out, you need to get on your horse and go visit your schools. It is amazing how fast a "quiet" MAF can become a very active one with proper application of the school outreach program.

If you would like to talk about your school outreach program, please email John Sherman on sherman@cape.com or Southard Lippincott on slip@cape.com - both of these men can help you build a more effective relationship with your schools.


BROCHURES AND COIN CANISTERS
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, the web site and these email broadcasts are everyone's forum to share and learn about how we all operate our Masonic Angel Funds.



We thank one and all for your outstanding support of the Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc.

Regards to all,

Bob Fellows
Managing Director/Board Secretary
Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc.