Dear Dedicated Members for Change,
There is a new financial grant program, adopted earlier this year by the Grand Lodge Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2016, which may be of benefit to your Lodge. The program was developed from a proposal by Junior Past Grand Master Tim Brown, and I am pleased to commend it to your attention.
Bottom line: This is a grant program that can provide money to qualified Lodges to enable them to pay for improvements (e.g. plumbing, electrical, painting, signage, roof repair and replacement, door and window repair and replacement, etc.) to the Lodge Hall and adjacent Lodge rental property. The program is funded from the sale of defunct Lodges ( starting December 15, 2015, a percentage of the net sale proceeds will be placed in an account to be used for these improvement projects).
Attached to this newsletter is a simple to understand, one-page document, which I wrote, entitled “Building Grant Program Guidelines”. It is presented in a Q&A format. The guidelines explain what the program is all about, which Lodges may qualify, the purposes for which grant money can be used, how a Lodge submits a request for a grant, and the process by which grant requests are evaluated and awarded. Please take a moment to review the Building Grand Program Guidelines to determine if your Lodge might qualify. Note that not every Lodge in California will be qualified to receive such grants. The grant program is targeted to benefit Lodges which might not otherwise have the funds or assets to pay for improvements.
In my capacity as Grand Master, I have appointed the members of a Building Grant Program Committee. All appointments were approved by the Grand Lodge Board of Directors. The Building Grant Program Committee is chaired by Past Grand Master Barry Prock and Co-chaired by Deputy Grand Master Peter Sellars. The Committee is ready to consider your applications for grant funding any time after January 1, 2016.
This is an exciting new program which may provide real benefits to the less affluent Lodges in California. It is a way for us to upgrade and improve our Lodge buildings, many of which have not been upgraded or improved for decades. Our Lodge Halls are an important reflection – to our members, potential members, and the public at large – of who we are as a fraternal order. It is important that we both preserve the great assets of our past, as well as burnish our image as a modern 21st Century fraternity.
F – L – T
Dave Rosenberg
Grand Master
Jurisdiction of California