Current Interest: Fulton Lodge No. 216 Gives Books to Atlanta RiteCare® Clinic

A ring and capping ceremony for the fourteen members of the William M. Hutcheson, 33°, Class was held by the Scottish Rite, Valley of Atlanta, Georgia, on August 4, 2011. General Secretary Bill Milles, 33°, presented patents, Personal Representative MW Al Garner, 33°, introduced each candidate and his lady, and SGIG Leonard E. Buffington, 33°, addressed the class and their guests. The program included a presentation of children’s books donated to the RiteCare® Clinic located at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Scottish Rite campus by the Valley and Fulton Lodge No. 216 of Atlanta.

Following the capping ceremony Elaine Eberhart, Sr. Development Director at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, spoke about the Rite’s involvement with the RiteCare® Clinics throughout the Orient and in particular at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta. Ms. Eberhart explained the services provided to Georgia’s children, stating that the Atlanta RiteCare® Clinic alone has over 9,000 patient visits a year. Books are used in the children’s therapy. To protect patients from infection, books must be new, and once given to a child, he or she keeps that book. The Valley of Atlanta has undertaken to provide as many books as possible to the RiteCare® Clinic for the children.

Fulton Lodge, chartered in 1857, is the second oldest in Atlanta. The Lodge established it’s Child Welfare Fund in 1950 and has donated to various causes for children, including providing hot school lunches, shoes and socks, medical equipment, and Christmas presents. This year the Child Welfare Fund adopted the Scottish Rite book drive for the RiteCare® Clinic as its project. In April, Fulton Lodge presented 210 new children’s books to the RiteCare® Clinic. At this event, Bro. David Reed, JW, and chairman of the Child Welfare Fund, assisted by Bros. Alan Cannon, SD, 32°, and Adam Brodofsky, PM, 32°, presented 1,012 new books through the Valley of Atlanta to the RiteCare® Clinic. This generous donation had a retail value in excess of $4,500.

Photo: Left: Some of the books given to the Atlanta Rite Care Clinic by Fulton Lodge No. 216, Georgia.