Masonic Charitable Foundation donates to Pine Tree Hospice

Staff Report

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Maine Charitable Foundation of the Grand Lodge of Masons has announced the recipients of $2,000 grants in each of the state’s 24 Masonic districts.
    Locally, a check was presented last week to Pine Tree Hospice from representatives of Maine’s 5th Masonic District which encompasses lodges in Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft, Sangerville, Guilford, Milo, Brownville, LaGrange and Greenville.

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    MASONIC DONATION — Representatives of Maine’s 5th Masonic District presented a check for $2,000 from the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation to Pine Tree Hospice last week. Pictured, from left, are Herb Libby, a past master of Mt. Kineo Lodge in Guilford; Scott Knight, the 5th District Educational Representative; Bill Pinkham, District Deputy Grand Master of the 5th Masonic District; and Jane Stitham, executive director of Pine Tree Hospice.

    Making the presentation were Herb Libby, a past master of Mt. Kineo Lodge in Guilford; Scott Knight, the 5th District Educational Representative and also a past master of Mt. Kineo Lodge; and Bill Pinkham, District Deputy Grand Master of the 5th Masonic District and a past master of Abner Wade Lodge in Sangerville.
    The recipients in each Masonic district included groups concerned with animal welfare, education, child and elder care, food assistance, health and hospice, nature preservation and military veterans’ support.
    Other beneficiaries during this round of funding include the Community Christmas Project Food Pantry in Pittsfield, the Bangor Humane Society and House in the Woods in Lee.
    A complete list is posted at www.MasonicCharitableFoundation.org.
    This was the first time that the Masonic Charitable Foundation has offered these public grants but the fraternal organization routinely donates nearly $400,000 per year to other worthy causes.
    Local Masons also serve their communities by offering the Bikes for Books program, youth activities, community betterment, Project Graduation and the Child Identification Program (CHIP).
    Mt. Kineo Lodge is the host for the upcoming Bikes for Books at Piscataquis Community Elementary School next month where seven boys’ and seven girls’ bicycles will be given away.
    The Abner Wade Lodge, in cooperation with local Kiwanis Clubs and the Parkman Grange, donated 250 Christmas dinners to needy families last December.