The Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma have a partnership that stretches back to 2010. Rodney Bivens, founder and then executive director of the Regional Food Bank, introduced himself to the philanthropic group and asked for their support of our mission.
“The needs of people in our state for support for food is well documented. Our organization had never participated at a statewide level in any program to address that need,” says John Logan, executive director of the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma. “We started small. We went to the [Regional] Food Bank, we toured, we listened to their proposal to help create some awareness amongst our members who were located all across the state.”
Their first project was a charity motorcycle ride facilitated through an Oklahoma City television station in 2011. The Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma was the main sponsor for the event that year and they then moved to a more robust involvement by annually sponsoring the Food for Kids Campaign.
The Charity Foundation shares childhood food insecurity updates each year with the Masons of Oklahoma, asking members to donate toward the current year’s Food for Kids Campaign. The Charity Foundation then matches what their members donate and this year’s grand total is $100,000. That donation is used to double the impact of donations to the Food for Kids Campaign, which means every dollar helps provide twice as many meals for Oklahoma children.
While they are the premier sponsor for Food for Kids, the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma also provides support for senior programs both through the Regional Food Bank and the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. This year, in addition to providing the $100,000 match donation to the Regional Food Bank for Food for Kids, the group also donated another $30,000 to expand our senior pantries.
“The history of Masonic Charity in Oklahoma dates back to the late 1800s and supporting children has always been a big part of that,” says Mekaila Wilhelm, director of communications. “We hope to continue in growing that in the future by building these relationships.”
We’re grateful for the generous support of the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma, and their dedication to providing nutritious meals for Oklahomans. Thanks to their current match, every $1 you give now helps provide 6 meals!
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