Representatives of the Mason’s North Dundas Lodge 320 stopped by the Dundas County Hospice on May 26 to present them with a cheque in the amount of $5,400. From left: Mason Tom Clapp, Mason Andy Naish, Arnold Scheerder, Dundas County Hospice board chair, Mason Matt Clark. Tinkess Photo

WILLIAMSBURG – A beautiful, sunny late spring morning got even better on Mon., May 26, when representatives of the Mason’s North Dundas lodge 320 stopped by the Dundas County Hospice to present them with a cheque in the amount of $5,400.

Andy Naish is the Worshipful Master (essentially the president) of  North Dundas Lodge 320 and explained how the donation came to be. “The funds came from us having to sell our property in Winchester, we earmarked some of the proceeds from the sale of the property to three charities, one being Dundas County Hospice. The other ones are the Winchester District Memorial Hospital Foundation earmarked for Dundas Manor, and the third one was for Harvest House.

“We send the Masonic Foundation of Ontario our donations,” added Naish. “They then topped it up by 33%, so the amount that you see there for $5,400 started off as $4,000.

Naish explained that the North Dundas Lodge stems from the amalgamation of two lodges 11 years ago, the Chesterville lodge 320 and Henderson lodge 383. The Chesterville lodge started off in 1874, so they are in their 151st year. This donation was part of the way to mark their anniversary.

“Tom (Clapp) was the one that came up with the idea of the donations, and we all got behind him on that and said, yeah, there’s three very worthy causes that we want to support,” said Naish.

Arnold Scheerder is the Dundas County Hospice Board Chair. He explained why donations like this one are so important to the continued success of the hospice.

“With the budget we have and the amount of fundraising that we need to do, any help from anybody, is badly needed, because we only get about 50% of our total budget funded through the Ministry of Health,” said Scheerder. “So, the rest of it, we need to come up ourselves. And, you know, we’re not a big organization that has access to all kinds of ways and means to fundraise, so any support from the community is absolutely essential for us to carry out our programs.

“And so, from, in this case, from the Masons, is absolutely important. It’s timely, it’s needed, and it’s very, very much appreciated.  You know,  we depend on the community. And the one thing I will say is that the community of Dundas County, both North and South Dundas has been tremendously supportive of us. And here is a prime example of it.”

As any charity will tell you, there is always need, something that needs to be done, or something that needs to be fixed, but the Dundas County Hospice will ensure that this donation, as is the case with all the donations they receive, will be used to provide the maximum benefit to those who need it the most.

For more information on Dundas County Hospice, visit their website at dundascountyhospice.ca.