Scottish Rite Charitable Activities

Scottish Rite Charity: Meals from the Heartland The Des Moines Valley, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite members, family and friends spent most of Sunday packing 20,000 meals into boxes for our first-ever Meals from the Heartland project. These meals will be distributed to those most in need throughout Iowa and around the world. Over 100 volunteers were on hand for the project, including the Grand Master of Masons in Iowa, Craig L. Davis. In addition to many Scottish Rite Masons and their families, we had student volunteers from Roosevelt, Lincoln and East High Schools. Sunday began with unloading the bulk food from the truck and setting up of the production line. After a brief hiatus for lunch provided by our Scottish Rite "kitchen krew", the work began. Our Master of Kadosh, Shane Harshbarger, welcomed everyone and thanked them for giving their time to assist with the endeavor. Scott Brunscheen of Meals from the Heartland provided an overview of how the food would be utilized and gave instructions on how to package 20,000 meals in just an afternoon. Our volunteer enthusiasm was spectacular. From Declan Phillips, age 5, to Cecil Brewton Jr., age 84, our people made it happen. While the packaging was a big part of the job, there were bins to refill, boxes to make, a truck to be loaded, and clean up to be done. In just a few short hours the work was completed and the spirit of charity was felt by all. This project was made possible by a grant made to the Des Moines Valley by the Iowa Scottish Rite Masonic Foundation. Meals from the Heartland was selected as one of the charities by our advisory conference.