Summer of Fun, Not Hunger with Virginia Masonic Lodge #544
Virginia Masonic Lodge #544 Worshipful Master Tim Krause presents the Virginia Woman’s Christian Fellowship Summer Lunch Program with $5000 and certificate. Pictured left to right: Worshipful Master Tim Krause; Debbie Krohe, President; Jess Miller; and Barb Ring, Vice President.
When you think of summer as a kid, what comes to mind? You are probably thinking of vacations, swimming, no school, and a lot of fun! While we like to think of summer break as all fun and games, there can be a major downside to summer: hunger. During the school year, our children are guaranteed at least one meal a day during the week thanks to our schools. But when school is out for the summer, that security may be gone. Thankfully, there are a lot of great programs out in our communities that offer bagged lunches for students in need during the summer months. One of these great programs is the Virginia Woman’s Christian Fellowship Summer Lunch Program in Virginia, Illinois.
Started in 2020, the Virginia Woman’s Christian Fellowship Summer Lunch Program provides nutritious lunches to children ages 2 years old to high school seniors in the Virginia, Illinois community. This year, the program expects to provide lunches for 100 students! A program like this can make quite an impact on children in the community, but all that goodwill towards others comes at a cost and food is not cheap.
Seeing this impact on the town of Virginia, Illinois, Virginia Masonic Lodge #544 decided to support and embrace this worthwhile program. Many of the brethren in the Virginia Masonic Lodge #544 have children and grandchildren in the Virginia School District and some have experienced the good grace of this program first hand. By supporting this program, the Virginia Masonic Lodge #544 is not just helping their community but they are helping their brethren as well.
Members of the Virginia Masonic Lodge #544 have volunteered their time to help the program make and distribute lunches to children in the area. Being on the frontlines, they felt that they needed to do more. Virginia Masonic Lodge #544 reached out to the Illinois Masonic Children’s Assistance Program (IMCAP) to apply for the Youth Organization Connection. The Youth Organization Connection is IMCAP’s way of partnering with Illinois Masonic Lodges to provide microgrants to organizations that support children in their communities. Through partnership with IMCAP, the Virginia Masonic Lodge #544 was able to present the Virginia Woman’s Christian Fellowship Summer Lunch Program with a $5,000 microgrant.
IMCAP is always excited to partner with our Illinois Masonic Lodges to increase the wellbeing of youth in their communities. If you know of a youth organization or program in your community that you would like to support, contact IMCAP Director Gale Kilbury at 217-529-8900 ext 222 or gkilbury@ilmason.org for more details.