Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 209 of the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons recently donated $2,100 to Eugene Field and Lake Road Elementary, respectively, to purchase clothing items for students in need.
Since 2006, the Masonic Lodge has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the elementary schools through its Creating A Partnership program established by the Masonic Home of Missouri, which provided a 2:1 match this year, turning every local dollar raised to $3.
“Poplar Bluff Lodge is proud to have assisted Eugene Field and Lake Road schools over the years and believe that the total amount as of right now is around $25,000 for these two schools combined,” reported Past Master of Lodge No. 209 Terry Yarbrough, the Grand Chaplain for the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
Both Lake Road and Eugene Field applied their funding toward children’s outerwear, undergarments and winter accessories. Lake Road distributed the clothing to families as gifts prior to Christmas, school counselor Valerie Duncan reported, while Eugene Field stocked its giving closet in the nurse's office to go to students year-round, according to counselor Esther Luna.
The local contribution was generated from the Masonic Lodge’s Father Daughter Ball held in October at the Black River Coliseum. The annual ball was founded in 2013 by Yarbrough, who drew inspiration from the Mountain Home Christian Academy in Arkansas, and has since witnessed the event grow from about 100 attendees to an average of 700 people.
“What started as a way to fund our youth groups grew beyond anything we expected and now affords us the ability to give charitable donations,” Yarbrough said. In addition to the Creating A Partnership program, which further serves three other school systems in the region, proceeds from the fundraiser benefit the Divine Chapter Order of DeMolay open to young men and the Order of Rainbow for Girls, as well as the transportation fund of the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Yarbrough noted.
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Cutline: Lake Road counselor Valerie Duncan accepts a donation from Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 209 by Worshipful Master Terry Campbell in December.