top of page
Acacia #9 takes pride in our charitable giving, as it is one of the three principle moral virtues of Freemasonry: Faith, Hope, and CHARITY. One could say our Lodge in recent years was and is "known" for our charitable giving! We do not give to charity to showboat or seek attention or recognition. Rather we are doing, as Masons, what we are obligated to do, to do what is right for mankind, to show people what we do and also importantly - to show others of a worthy cause to donate their own time and money to.
It is unfortunate that we live in a world where all are not fortunate, and thus as Masons we must do what we can for others, because it is the right thing to do.
2024
(so far)
ACACIA #9 RECEIVES "C-CLUB" AWARD!
At our February 2024 meeting we had a visit from Bob Shively, Executive Director of the Kansas Masonic Foundation. We thought he was just there to talk about the KMF, of which he did but also presented us with a "C-Club" Award as a Platinum Donor as a recognition of our continued support and charitable giving to and through the Kansas Masonic Foundation organization. We are happy to do it, after all, giving support and charity to our communities is part of what being a Mason is all about!
_JPG.jpg)
_JPG.jpg)
_JPG.jpg)
7th ANNUAL $5000 DONATION
to PEASLEE TECH trade school!
For the past few years and moving forward, we have dedicated this donation in the memory of our Brother Tom Breyley who was fond of this school and what it provides (as he was a millwright), this trade school has everything from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, and much more! And as Masons (Craftsmen), it is fitting we contribute to this particular school!
https://peasleetech.org/
2023
6th ANNUAL $5000 DONATION
to PEASLEE TECH trade school!
For the past few years and moving forward, we have dedicated this donation in the memory of our Brother Tom Breyley who was fond of this school and what it provides (as he was a millwright), this trade school has everything from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, and much more! And as Masons (Craftsmen), it is fitting we contribute to this particular school!
https://peasleetech.org/
$1000 DONATION
to BOYS & GIRLS CLUB of LAWRENCE!
The Boys & Girls Club had a new program that was started after the pandemic hit, that we felt strongly about to support, their: Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Program. The program helps youth overcome social-emotional challenges so they can succeed in school and life. Since the pandemic, they have seen a drastic increase in their youth's mental health needs, particularly with threats-to-harm incidents, but they also implement programs that help youth to learn positive behaviors and how to self-regulate their emotions.
https://bgclk.org/
$500 DONATION
to the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY/RELAY FOR LIFE!
Again in memory of our Brother Tom Breyley (who passed away from battling cancer), we made our third donation through Relay For Life fundraiser extraordinaire Bob Silipigni. The American Cancer Society/Relay For Life is a long standing organization that raises millions of dollars every year for cancer research.
https://www.cancer.org/involved/fundraise/relay-for-life.html
2022
5th ANNUAL $5000 DONATION
to PEASLEE TECH trade school!
For the past few years and moving forward, we have dedicated this donation in the memory of our Brother Tom Breyley who was fond of this school and what it provides (as he was a millwright), this trade school has everything from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, and much more! And as Masons (Craftsmen), it is fitting we contribute to this particular school!
https://peasleetech.org/
$500 DONATION
to LAWRENCE KANSAS PARKS & RECREATION
"WEE FOLKS SCHOLARSHIP!"
Formed in 1996, the scholarship gives Douglas County youth the opportunity to participate in recreational activities regardless of household financial conditions.
https://lawrenceks.org/lprd/weefolks/
%2005_2022.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY/RELAY FOR LIFE!
In memory of our Brother Tom Breyley (who passed away from battling cancer this year), we made our second donation through Relay For Life fundraiser extraordinaire Bob Silipigni. The American Cancer Society/Relay For Life is a long standing organization that raises millions of dollars every year for cancer research.
https://www.cancer.org/involved/fundraise/relay-for-life.html
$1500 DONATION
to LAWRENCE MEALS ON WHEELS!
As our fourth time donating and in honor and memory of our Brother Tom Wilkerson (who passed away this year), who was a past volunteer and Board Member of the Lawrence Meals on Wheels. This is a long standing organization that provides and delivers hot nutritious meals to the home bound elderly and/or disabled, residing in Lawrence, who have a special dietary need and/or are unable to prepare their own meals.
https://www.lawrencemow.org/
.jpg)
2021
.jpg)
4th ANNUAL $5000 DONATION
to PEASLEE TECH trade school!
This trade school has everything from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, and much more! And as Masons (Craftsmen), it is fitting we contribute to this particular school!
https://peasleetech.org/
$300 FOOD DONATION
to LAWRENCE WINTER SHELTER!
The Lawrence Winter Shelter, shelters the homeless on nights below freezing at local churches and this year at a motel. The community was still feeling the effects of the pandemic and so the food was in high demand!
https://www.facebook.com/lawrencewintershelter/
$1000 DONATION
to BOYS & GIRLS CLUB of LAWRENCE!
Who doesn't like to help kids? After all, our youth are our future! The Boys & Girls Club is a long standing organization that helps youth with after school care, homework help, food assistance, preparation and guidance for post high school, and much more!
https://bgclk.org/
$500 DONATION
to the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY/RELAY FOR LIFE!
We made our first donation, in the name of Lawrence High School, through Relay For Life fundraiser extraordinaire Bob Silipigni. The American Cancer Society/Relay For Life is a long standing organization that raises millions of dollars every year for cancer research. Along with that we awarded Mr. Silipigni with our distinguished "Certificate of Excellence" Award for his hard work in over 20 years of fundraising over a half a million dollars by himself for this cause!
https://www.cancer.org/involved/fundraise/relay-for-life.html
$500 DONATION
to JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF KANSAS!
An organization that has been around for over 100 years in Kansas, the Junior Achievement of Kansas teaches business, entrepreneurship, money saving, investment, and the like; to youth K-12. They have members of the community who own their own businesses, who go to schools and teach in the classroom for 5-8 days a year per school year and at no cost to the schools. Schools require education on these topics anyways, so what's better than having actual business owners teach real world experience on these topics!
https://lawrence.ja.org/
"BIG 10 - 2021 End of the Year Donation Campaign"
With the world still reeling from the unprecedented pandemic that hit the world in 2020, people staying home, businesses shut down, incomes decreasing, and with emotional and mental struggles, and with the amazing support that we were able to provide to our community, Acacia #9 wanted to do it again! But BIGGER! The following pictures below were donations that were given out in again just 3 days (December 10, 15, 18) just in time for Christmas and was our biggest donation period yet, at $1000 to 10 different causes, totaling $10,000!
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to KANSAS MASONIC FOUNDATION - CANCER SCREENING TRUCK!
The latter part of this year was a bitter sweet one, as we learned that our Worshipful Brother Tom Breyley's health was declining due in part to his very own cancer struggles and was put into hospice care. Tom Breyley at the time was the only living member of Acacia #9 who had served as Master of our Lodge non-consecutively a total of 6 times! He was a member seen by all in the Lodge as a wise and dedicated Mason, a model-Mason to look up to. Plus as you will see from all of these pictures on this page, charity was very important to him. Therefore, in this "Big 10 - 2021 End of the Year Donation Campaign," knowing his eventual outcome, we had to include him in our biggest donation event ever! Tom Breyley kicked us off on this donation campaign by presenting the first check to Bob Shively, Executive Director of the Kansas Masonic Foundation for their Cancer Screening Truck they were building. Our legendary Brother Tom Breyley left us, 28 days later.
https://kansasmasonic.foundation/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to LAWRENCE POLICE BLUE SANTA!
A program we donated to last year, we thought would be a great recipient of this years donation. It is an organization that is sponsored by the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Police Department, where gifts for Christmas are purchased for low income families and brought to those families by the Brave Men & Women in Blue!
https://lawrencebluesanta.org/
%20Alt.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to the LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY - DOTTIE MOBILE LIBRARY TRUCK!
We learned that the library was building a truck that would be a mobile library to make books and other materials more accessible to areas around town where it might not be easy for some to come to the library and we thought
that was a really
cool idea and
wanted to be a
part of it!
They even put our name on it!
https://lplks.org/outreach/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to LAWRENCE MEALS ON WHEELS!
This was our third time donating to this organization and we found out this year they had an anonymous donor who would be matching donations and so therefore our donation actually ended up being $2000! This is a long standing organization that provides and delivers hot nutritious meals to the home bound elderly and/or disabled, residing in Lawrence, who have a special dietary need and/or are unable to prepare their own meals.
https://www.lawrencemow.org/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to BOYS & GIRLS CLUB of LAWRENCE!
This was our second donation to the Boys & Girls Club this year because we love the work they do! The Boys & Girls Club is a long standing organization that helps youth with after school care, homework help, food assistance, preparation and guidance for post high school, and much more!
https://bgclk.org/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to THE CHILDREN'S SHELTER!
This organization along with the O'Connell Youth Ranch, provides assistance to families and youth in various ways such as prevention programs for difficulties at home and keeping youth out of trouble, group care, temporary housing, foster care, and more.
https://www.oconnellchildrensshelter.org/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to JUBILEE CAFE!
This was our third time donating to the Jubilee Cafe, it is a program that is held at the First United Methodist Church every Tuesday and Friday mornings, provides a unique restaurant-style experience for the low income and homeless. Guests are able to "order" from a menu and be waited on, all for free of charge.
https://fumclawrence.org/jubilee/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to the BALLARD CENTER!
This was our second time donating to the Ballard Center. This organization is a long standing Lawrence based organization that provides support and donations to low income families in the form of providing early childhood education, food, clothing, and other family-based assistance.
https://ballardcenter.org/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to LAWRENCE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY!
A member of our Lodge has a friend who has a Habitat home and new what the organization did, which is building homes for low income families to live and own their home over time with affordable payments and involves the family in helping to build their home and volunteer at the Habitat store! So we thought this would be a good organization to donate to.
https://www.lawrencerestore.org/
.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to JUST FOOD!
This was our third time donating to Just Food. Just Food is the most well know food bank in Lawrence. We learned that the need of food had doubled during the pandemic and many people were still feeling the effects of the pandemic, so we felt it was important to continue our support of Just Food.
https://www.justfoodks.org/
2020
3rd ANNUAL $5000 DONATION
to PEASLEE TECH trade school!
This trade school has everything from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, and much more! And as Masons (Craftsmen), it is fitting we contribute to this particular school!
https://peasleetech.org/
.jpg)
ACACIA #9 SIGN at PEASLEE TECH!
With Acacia #9's continued support of the school, the school allowed for a sign with our symbol and name on it to put on the wall of the main hall in their building along with many of the other donators to the school. We are proud to support this school!
.jpg)
$300 FOOD DONATION
to LAWRENCE WINTER SHELTER!
The Lawrence Winter Shelter, shelters the homeless on nights below freezing at local churches. This year was pretty cold and supplies were heavily needed..
https://www.facebook.com/lawrencewintershelter/
.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to JUBILEE CAFE!
A program that is held at the First United Methodist Church every Tuesday and Friday mornings, provides a unique restaurant-style experience for the low income and homeless. Guests are able to "order" from a menu and be waited on, all for free of charge.
https://fumclawrence.org/jubilee/
$1000 DONATION
to JUST FOOD!
Just Food is the most well know food bank in Lawrence. We learned that the need of food had doubled during the pandemic and felt we needed to act, allowing our donation to go a long way in allowing the organization to purchase exactly what they needed for the community.
https://www.justfoodks.org/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to LAWRENCE MEALS ON WHEELS!
This is a long standing organization that provides and delivers hot nutritious meals to the home bound elderly and/or disabled, residing in Lawrence, who have a special dietary need and/or are unable to prepare their own meals. During the pandemic along with our donation to Just Food, again felt we needed to help provide nutrition to our community.
https://www.lawrencemow.org/
"2020 End of the Year Donation Campaign"
With the unprecedented pandemic that hit the world in 2020 and with people staying home, businesses shut down, incomes decreasing, and with emotional and mental struggles, Acacia #9 new we had to do something, do more than we had ever done before and assist our community during this trying time. The following pictures below were donations that were given out in just 3 days (December 19, 21, 23) just in time for Christmas and was our biggest donation period to date, totaling $5500.
(until 2021 when we did even more).
%202020.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to LAWRENCE POLICE BLUE SANTA!
A program that is sponsored by the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Police Department, where gifts for Christmas are purchased for low income families and brought to those families by the Brave Men & Women in Blue!
https://lawrencebluesanta.org/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to BERT NASH COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER for their "TINT CITY!"
A program sponsored by the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center that built a "Tent City" with a sophisticated camp layout that provides a place to sleep, provides food and other materials, and helps the homeless to get back into society.
https://www.bertnash.org/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to SALVATION ARMY OF DOUGLAS COUNTY!"
The Salvation Army is a long standing organization that provides many services for the low income and homeless, such as providing meals, providing clothing, help adults with job searching, and much more!
https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/douglascounty/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to JUBILEE CAFE!
We loved what they were doing the first time we donated to them this year, so we decided to donate to them again! Jubilee Cafe is a program that is held at the First United Methodist Church every Tuesday and Friday mornings, provides a unique restaurant-style experience for the low income and homeless. Guests are able to "order" from a menu and be waited on, all for free of charge.
https://fumclawrence.org/jubilee/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to LAWRENCE COMMUNITY SHELTER!
We all know the homeless struggle every day, but we realized that they would be struggling even more during this pandemic, which is why we have donated to several programs that help, at least in part, the homeless. The Lawrence Community Shelter is a physical location that actually houses the homeless year round for temporary periods of time and provides essential material and food and assists in finding more permanent housing for families.
https://www.lawrenceshelter.org/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to JUST FOOD!
Everybody needs food, so we decided to donated to Just Food again! Just Food is the most well know food bank in Lawrence. We learned that the need of food had doubled during the pandemic and felt we needed to act, allowing our donation to go a long way in allowing the organization to purchase exactly what they needed for the community.
https://www.justfoodks.org/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to the BALLARD CENTER!
The Ballard Center is a long standing Lawrence based organization that provides support and donations to low income families in the form of providing early childhood education, food, clothing, and other family-based assistance.
https://ballardcenter.org/
%202020.jpg)
$500 DONATION
to LINK - LAWRENCE INTERDENOMINATIONAL NUTRITION KITCHEN!
This organization provides "home cooked meals" on site, to low income families and the homeless. Again, nutrition is important for everyone and we wanted help all human beings during this difficult time of the pandemic.
http://www.linklawrence.org/
%202020.jpg)
$1000 DONATION
to LAWRENCE MEALS ON WHEELS!
Again helping our community with the most essential neccessity of life - food, we decided to donate again to Lawrence Meals on Wheels! This is a long standing organization that provides and delivers hot nutritious meals to the home bound elderly and/or disabled, residing in Lawrence, who have a special dietary need and/or are unable to prepare their own meals.
https://www.lawrencemow.org/
2019
2nd ANNUAL $5000 DONATION
to PEASLEE TECH trade school!
This was our second time donating to this trade school in Lawrence, KS. A donation started by Brother Randy Wells. This trade school has everything from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, and much more! And as Masons (Craftsmen), it is fitting we contribute to this particular school!
https://peasleetech.org/
2018
1st ANNUAL $5000 DONATION
to PEASLEE TECH trade school!
This was our first time donating to this trade school in Lawrence, KS. A donation started by Brother Randy Wells. This trade school has everything from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, and much more! And as Masons (Craftsmen), it is fitting we contribute to this particular school!
https://peasleetech.org/
bottom of page