Support your Grand Charity
10 February 25
Musings on Masonicare
Is it better to give than to receive?
By RW Bro Peter Stoneman
The Grand Charity [aka Masonicare] is the charity arm of The United Grand Lodge of NSW & ACT, it is administered by a board with RW Bro Tony Craig as chair. The current members of the board can be found on the Grand Lodge website (via a link to ‘Grand Lodge Resources’) or by visiting www.masonicare.org.au. Additionally, they are listed as part of the reports to the December 2024 Grand Lodge Communication.
Is it better to give than to receive?
All readers will be aware that the Grand Charity disperses funds to worthy causes through interaction grants, benevolence grants and disaster relief grants.
The bodies that receive these monies are as you might expect grateful for our help. The Board recently received a letter from the Mid North Coast Local Health District in appreciation for the $113,832 that has been raised to assist kids with cancer through masonic activities over the last decade. More extensive details of this program were published in a previous edition of Freemason.
Every brother will remember or at least recall parts of the north-east charge at their initiation. The Grand Charity can also receive donations, either privately or through lodges. The Grand Charity is a government registered charity (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission) and has what is known as Deductible Gift Recipient status, which means that all donations over $2.00 are completely tax deductible. However, this does not include donations to the benevolence fund.
One way you may consider supporting the Grand Charity is through making a bequest in your will.
I can’t stress how important wills are, having been through the process of relatives passing both with and without a will. Your Will will ensure that your estate is distributed in the way that you would like. A bequest to the Grand Charity after the needs of your family have been considered is a lasting legacy and will support the ideals of the Grand Charity for years to come.
Because it is a legal document the terms of the bequest need to be specific. Please take legal advice on this, but a sample wording is:
‘I give ………… dollars to the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory Grand Charity (known as “Masonicare”).‘If at my death the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory Grand Charity (known as “Masonicare”) has ceased to exist or has amalgamated with another charity or changed its name, this gift shall not fail but my executors shall pay it to the charitable organisation (in New South Wales) which they consider most nearly fulfils the objects that I intend to benefit.‘The receipt of the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory shall be deemed a sufficient discharge of this gift.’
The Grand Charity on the Ground
The Board is represented in the regions by Regional Masonicare Managers (RMMs).
Your current RMM is:
- Region 1 – RW Bro Robert Drysdale, Lodge Loftus-Macleay No 203
- Region 2 – RW Bro Graeme Ingall, The Central Coast Lodge No 2001
- Region 3 – RW Bro Paul Buchtmann, Lodge Picton No 258
- R Region 4 – RW Bro Peter Stoneman, Lodge Barham No 561.
Like the administrative functions under the RGC and with DGIWs, the RMMs have District Masonicare Representatives (DMRs).
Currently, there are vacancies in a number of districts for DMRs, so if you would like to become involved in the Grand Charity, then talk to your DGIW and he will give you some more details. In districts were there is no DMR, then the DGIW undertakes the duties of this position as well as his administrative duties.
