Freemasons donate EC$20,000 to flood relief effort

FREEEMASONS in the Caribbean have made a monetary contribution to the St Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross Society to assist with the relief effort which has been underway since the torrential rain and floods which devastated St Vincent in December 2013.{{more}}

On 5 June 2014, Kevin Dickson, the current presiding officer of St George Lodge – the local Masonic organisation, handed over three cheques, totalling EC $20,000, to Bernard Morgan, president of the SVG Red Cross Society. The presentation took place at the Masonic Hall, Bentinck Square at 6:30 p.m. and was attended by members of the Lodge, and representatives of the Red Cross and the media.

In making the donation, Dickson explained that immediately following the disaster, the Freemasons of St George Lodge took the initiative to contact the office of the District Grand Lodge of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, located in Barbados, with a request for assistance.

He disclosed that the District not only responded positively with a cheque for EC$5,000, but widened the appeal to include the Regional District Grand Masters’ Conference. He explained that this Conference comprised the District Grand Lodges of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, along with Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. He said that the Conference had responded by forwarding a cheque in the amount of US$5,000, which came from a fund – the Caribbean and Western Atlantic Regional Consolidated Disaster Fund – which the Conference had established some time ago to respond to natural disasters within the region. The third cheque, for EC$1,600, represents contributions from members of St George Lodge.

Bernard Morgan, in responding, thanked the St George Masonic Lodge on behalf of the Red Cross Society for its initiative, and Freemasonry in the region for its useful donation.

More information on freemasonry can be found at: http://www.ugle.org.uk/what-is-freemasonry