Charity
Women in Odisha state take delivery of a food kit
Weathering the storm As the Delta variant of COVID-19 decimated India, Freemasons donated £50,000 in aid Providing for your family is a basic human instinct. The urge to make sure the people you love have the food, water, housing and care they need to thrive is not limited by geographical borders but a fundamental feeling shared between loved ones globally. That is why headlines and photos showing people in India and South Sudan struggling to access medical care and nutrition for their families earlier this year have struck such a chord across the world. As a result, the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF, the Freemasons’ charity) stepped in to support those worst affected.
Families in South Sudan receiving cooking kits
In May, densely populated cities in India became ground zero for the outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19. This new wave of the disease swept across the country, decimating healthcare infrastructure and endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions of families. The World Health Organisation estimated that India’s COVID-19 cases accounted for half the cases in the world. However, thanks to a £50,000 grant from the Freemasons, through the MCF, Plan International has been able to support 1,700 of the most vulnerable Indian families with emergency food parcels. Similarly, families in South Sudan faced an imminent threat to their food supply earlier this year, with heavy flooding destroying homes, crops, and even lives. As the UN described the resulting food crisis as the ‘worst on record’, the MCF once again partnered with Plan International. On behalf of Freemasonry, the charity gave a £35,000 emergency grant to provide 525 cooking kits to families in Pibor, one of the worstaffected regions of the crisis. FMT Autumn 2021
These emergency grants come as part of the MCF’s wider work providing relief and supporting recovery efforts in the wake of natural disasters, both at home and overseas. Since the MCF’s inception in 2016, the charity has provided 44 emergency grants to 24 countries, with a total value of £954,401, and continues to be there to support people all over the world who find themselves in need. Subscribe to the MCF’s mailing list to hear of new emergency grants, as well as updates about its work and impact at www.mcf.org.uk/FMT/subscribe.
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