Montana Masonic Foundation Offers Grant Opportunity

 

August 28, 2019



At a teacher’s in-service meeting on August 19, the Grand Master of Chinook’s Masonic Lodge #50, Larry Surber and Lodge Secretary, Ben Hall invited public school administrators and educators to submit applications to the Montana Masonic Foundation Educational Grant Program. Grant applications for the 2019-2020 school year are due prior to December 31, 2019.

The Montana Masonic Foundation’s (MMF) Educational Grant Program is designed to provide those involved in the public school system an opportunity to apply for a grant to assist under-funded programs such as music, drama, science, and libraries. According to the MMF, their Educational Grant Program is intended to help with those needs in district general budgets or areas of student enhancement or learning that often suffer cut-backs or experience start-up concerns.

The MMF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, charitable organization. Its mission includes supporting scientific, literary, or educational purposes and encouraging and promoting free public education and schools through endowments, grants, scholarships, and fellowships.


Hall explained that grants can be made for up to $3,000 and that previous grants have purchased reading kits, microscopes, and supplies for Maker Spaces. Maker Spaces are the informal, physical workspaces where those with an artisan spirit and a learn-through-doing mentality come together, united by a spirt of creative play, to create things and to share materials and equipment—from 3D printers to power saws.

Chinook School District has benefited from the MMF Grant Program in the past. For example, in March, the Chinook’s Masonic Lodge sponsored reading achievement with its Kindles for Books. Seven Meadowlark Elementary students received a Kindle Fire for their Accelerated Reader achievements. “The purpose of the Kindles for Books program is to motivate kids to read and to develop skills that they will use for the rest of their lives,” Surber said.

In addition, music program director, Levi Williams applied for and was granted $600.00 to purchase choir folders. “These funds go a long way in supporting programs,” Williams said.

To the audience gathered, Hall distributed Submission Criteria, grant application information, and a memo from Daniel Gardiner, the MMF Secretary-Director in Helena. In his memo, Gardiner states that “at its core, the MMF is an organization created with gifts from generous people committed to local causes. For donors, the Foundation serves as a philanthropic advisor. For the community, the Foundation serves as a grant maker and a civic leader. Through the support of its donors, and members of the Freemason’s fraternity, the Foundation has been able to address some of the community’s most pressing needs, including hunger, housing and education.”

Anyone interested in applying for a grant can find forms at the Grand Lodge of Montana website: http://www.grandlodgemontana.org. Those with additional questions can contact Surber at 357-3219, Hall at 357-3277, or Gardiner’s MMF Grant Program office in Helena at 442-7774.

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/12/2024 23:47