FREEMASONS
TOP €½M IN BIG BOOST FOR CHARITIES

A major fund-raising campaign has beaten the credit crunch by collecting more than €½m for charity.

The grand total of €660,000 is being shared by the Samaritans, Laura Lynn Children’s Hospice Foundation and Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. They are the chosen beneficiaries of a “Festival for Charity” organised by the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland.

The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, marked the finale of the festival by meeting the Grand Master, George Dunlop, and representatives of the Grand Lodge and the charities at Government Buildings in Dublin today (4.15 p.m., Wednesday, May 20). Mr. Cowen described the festival as “an outstanding success” and congratulated the Freemasons on their initiative. “Their generous support will strengthen the capacity of these charities to provide their invaluable assistance to families and individuals in distress and coping with adversity,” he said.

The meeting with the Taoiseach was followed later by a celebration dinner in the Freemasons’ Hall in nearby Molesworth Street.

Presenting cheques for €220,000 to each of the beneficiaries, Mr. Dunlop said: “Like the rest of the community, charities are feeling the pinch of the credit crunch and our support is therefore more important and necessary than ever. “The response to the Festival for Charity has been magnificent and is all the more commendable in the current economic climate".

“The very impressive total which has been raised will, we hope, go a considerable way to supporting the essential and laudable work of these three very worthy charities.” He added: “The huge success of our fund-raising efforts all over Ireland down the years is an achievement of which we feel especially proud. “It reflects not only the generosity of our members but also our open and active participation in the life of the community and demonstrates that we are a caring organisation and part of society.”

During the year-long festival members of the Masonic Order throughout Ireland, north and south, ran money-raising events ranging from barbeques, clay pigeon shoots, quiz and race nights and calendar sales to dinner dances, deep sea fishing, golf outings, sponsored walks, marathon runs and whiskey tasting.

Two members completed a sponsored climb of two peaks in the Himalayas and another undertook a four-day run over the 167-mile route from the children’s hospice on the outskirts of Belfast to the site of its proposed counterpart at Sandyford, County Dublin, …before going on to compete in the Dublin marathon.

A joint statement from the chairman of the festival committee, Richard Ensor, and the chairmen of the northern and southern provinces committees, Rodney McCurley and Basil Fenton, said: “The ingenuity of our members in raising funds for charity never fails to amaze. “We could not have foreseen the major downturn in the economic climate which would take place during our festival year and could not have been criticised for being pessimistic about the outcome.

“In fact nothing could have been further from the truth and the brethren of the Irish Constitution of the Order have risen magnificently to the challenge by demonstrating their generosity and willingness to work hard for charity in what has turned out to be an extremely successful exercise in fundraising.”

The all-Ireland Samaritans organisation operates from 20 branches with some 1,700 volunteers to provide round-the-clock confidential emotional support to people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair. Volunteer representative Anita Lawlor said: “As demand for Samaritans services increases in these difficult times the cost of running the charity rises.

“A donation of this size, for which we are most grateful, is a significant step in ensuring that we can maintain and increase the reach of our 24-hour helpline services over the coming three years and make a significant contribution to the reduction of suicide in Ireland.”

The Laura Lynn Foundation was set up in 2001 as a result of an enormous personal tragedy in the lives of Dublin couple Jane and Brendan McKenna that saw them lose both of their daughters, Laura and Lynn, in the space of just two years. It has teamed up with the Children’s Sunshine Home to establish the first hospice for children in the Republic at Sandyford, County Dublin. Said Jane McKenna: “We realise the huge effort which went into the organisation of the many events run by the Freemasons and sincerely appreciate their kind and generous support. “The donation raised is astounding and will truly make a wonderful difference to many sick children and their families in the future.”

The Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice cares for 250 life-limited children and their families every year. Chief executive officer Judith Hill said: “We rely heavily on voluntary donations and legacies to continue our work. “This tremendous effort by the Freemasons will pay for three staff nurses for two years, making a huge difference to these special children in our care.”

Built on benevolence, the non-sectarian, non-political Masonic Order can trace its history in Ireland back 500 years – second oldest only to the Churches. Part of a worldwide organisation with a membership of almost five million, the 30,000 members of its Irish constitution have raised well in excess of €2m for non-Masonic charities in the past 20 years alone.

A previous charity festival led to the setting up of the Freemasons of Ireland Medical Research Fund, which continues to finance ongoing projects in universities and hospitals on both sides of the border.