The LaBelle Masons have teamed up with the Hendry County Toys-For-Tots campaign to assure area families that children will find toys under this year’s Christmas trees.  At a recent meeting, the Masons were expecting a quiet evening with a meal together, a talk by Margaret England, Hendry County Toys-For-Tots Coordinator, then handle a few business items and go home.

All that didn’t happen. The Spirit of Christmas intervened. The Lodge’s military Veterans, Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Air Force and Coast Guardsmen, plus a few who haven’t served, reacted to one of Ms. England’s off-the-cuff remarks that this year’s funding for Toys-For-Tots is not meeting the demand.

 After England took her leave and the Lodge meeting continued her comments remained with the Masons and resulted in a pass the hat for money to help buy toys. One member, who’d served as a Marine, challenged the Lodge that he would match “the Hat’s” collections up to $2,000.  The ensuing discussion included several personal reflections about what a bicycle at Christmas had meant to them.

Minutes later when the money was counted it totaled $2,500 which included I.O.U.’s, a couple of checks, and cash. The $2,000 match brought the total to $4,500.   It was then decided to add $500  from the Lodge’s treasury to round the total off at $5,000.

The men went home that night with empty billfolds but with smiling faces and happy hearts.

England was home preparing for an early appointment the next morning when she was contacted by telephone. Lodge member Tom Boardman, a Marine veteran and former Master of the LaBelle Masonic Lodge, was calling to give her the news that the Masons had a donation for Toy-For-Tots.

 England is in her third year as the volunteer coordinator for Toy-For-Tots in Hendry County, a task that runs from one Christmas to another.  “I didn’t know what to say when Mr. Boardman told me what the Masons had done,” she said.  “I had been invited to their dinner to tell what Toys-For-Tots is all about.  I told them about our collection boxes located in several places around LaBelle and Clewiston and our corporate sponsors. But the unexpected generosity of the Masons came as a complete surprise.”           

Masonic Lodges in LaBelle, Clewiston, Moore Haven and Okeechobee, are frequent donors to local charities and causes but seldom to the extent of the donation to Toy-For-Tots. They seldom seek recognition for their benevolence and recipient never knows who has helped them.

One of the basic tenants of Freemasonry is charity for the betterment of all people along with patriotism and making better men out of all men.