Elderly receive hampers
Masonic Services delivered 1100 food hampers to pensioners in Durban on Sunday.
THE Masonic Services in Durban brought smiles to the faces of pensioners living in Durban old age homes on Sunday.
The Masonic Services delivered 1100 food hampers to the elderly, a project they undertake annually at Christmas time.
The hampers went to 709 elderly at Tafta’s homes, 150 at Bill Buchanan, 50 at Flame Lily and the others to other old age homes in the greater Durban area.
Freemasonry in South Africa operates under four independent Constitutions which cooperate with each other. Charity work is an important facet of Freemasonry. Masonic Services was formed around 20 years ago to provide a means for the four Masonic Constitutions to work together on charitable projects.
The hamper project began right from inception, but on a very small scale. A number of elderly people in difficult circumstances were identified and given a hamper at Christmas. These hampers were funded by personal donations from a small number of Freemasons involved in Masonic Services.
Over the last 10 years the project has gained momentum and an increasing number of Freemasons have donated money and time to support this project.
“This is the 21st year we have undertaken this project, which is our way of giving back to the community. The project has grown from 35 hampers when it started, to more than 1000 this year. The amount of R200 000 to make this project a reality was raised by a small group of dedicated people, intent on making a difference in the lives of the elderly,” said Doug Kirton.
This is the most important project of the year for the Masonic Services. Other projects during the year include the Winter Warmth campaign. Masonic Services has also delivered 200 food parcels to Zimbabwe to people in need and has funded a custom-built mobile soup kitchen which will soon be supplying a meal to homeless people in Durban.
“Our philosophy is caring for our fellow man, and these projects are in line with this,” said Doug.
Femada Shaman, divisional manger of social services for TAFTA, said: “It’s not just the hampers which bring joy to our pensioners, it becomes an entire day event where the families of the Freemasons join them in handing out the hampers and spending time with our residents. It’s so wonderful that these people want to interact with the elderly and engage with them, we are very grateful.”
