All you need is a paypal account, (the same one you use if you are a regular on EBAY) and click the link below.  We have just started a DONATE $10.00 and tag 10 of your Facebook friends – forward an email fundraising campaign.  I have set a goal of $5,000, which is a Platinum Sponsorship.  For those of you who can’t play golf, take the day off or live out of town/state, leverage the power of your facebook friends by copying and pasting the following message and then “tag” 10 of your friends by posting on their facebook wall or sending an email.

Copy and paste below to their wall:

“I just gave $10.00 to the Rite Care Children Language Disorder Clinics of NC and I am asking you to do they same!  Click here to watch a video about the great work of these clinics sponsored by the Scottish Rite Freemasons, here to read why Gilbert Bailey is personally connected to Language Learning and started this challenge and here to make a $10.00 donation via paypal!  Then forward this to 10 of your friends.  Thank you for changing the future of a child forever!”

Then add this as a link to the wall post: http://childrenlangctrsnc.chipin.com/rite-care-children-language-learning-centers-of-nc

NOTE: If you would like to pay by check and use a corporate match call: 704) 365-3579
.

You can start by clicking the orange “chip in” button and make a donation. 

Click here to watch a video and learn more about the Rite Care Children’s Language Learning Centers.

There will be a Silent Auction and Banquet the evening before golf is played.  All of the proceeds will go to fund the 3 Rite Care Children Language Learning Centers located in North Carolina:

• The Charles & Geneva Scott Scottish Rite Communication Disorders Clinic / Appalachian State University Clinic – Boone, NC
• North Carolina Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders / Scottish Rite Temple – Charlotte, NC
• North Carolina Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders / East Carolina University – Greenville, NC

Scottish Rite Masons began their commitment to the cause of helping children with language disorders more than twenty-five years ago. Since that time nearly 100 Scottish Rite Centers have been located throughout the United States, including 3 in North Carolina.  These centers are staffed by speech-language pathologists and other trained personnel.

Children that might have remained educationally handicapped for a lifetime can now talk, read and lead useful lives. Miracles can happen and with skillful evaluations and treatment, miracles are happening in the Scottish Rite Treatment Centers all over America.

Since the 3 Rite Care Children Language Learning Centers located throughout our state are a charitable project of the North Carolina Scottish Rite Masonic Foundation, there are no fees for these services. All services are available to families regardless of race, creed, color, or handicapping conditions.

To register to play golf, attend the banquet-auction or become a sponsor download the registration from below:

For more details contact Gilbert Bailey, 704-650-3682,  gilbert@beanstalkdata.com or visit our tournament’s office website.

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This is what our wonderful Ladies do at our Learning Center! Thanks Anne, Debbie & Wendy!

(click on the PowerPoint Presentation to advance the slides)

1. Represented at five (5) Spring, Summer and Fall Festivals

2. Even though we were not out to recruit members we talked to several men with interest in membership and their names and phone numbers were passed to the lodges in their area.
3. The reputation of Masonry is excellent, out of the hundreds we spoke with, only one man talked negatively about the fraternity and thankfully he approached me.
4. Shrine Hospitals are well know, however, the Learning Center and the Masonic Home at Oxford do not have such a reputation yet.
5. We met men and women with smiles on their faces as they recalled The Children’s home at Oxford home.
6. Parents are proud of the improvement in students, who have been helped by the Learning Center Teachers. You can’t comprehend what goes on in this building until you talk to students, parents, and grandparents and hear how lives have been turned around because of the Learning Center and these talented Teachers.
7. The success this year is due to 6 Masons. Our plan is to be back next year taking advantage of what we learned this year, and the need for other’s to get involved with us is great. We have ask to come to fish fries and bar-B-que’s with our displays and talk about our charities. We have even received 2 calls from Lodge’s across the state that would be impossible to get to at this time.
8. I have said before we are not on anyone’s budget or committee, we, through the generosity of several Brothers have paid our expenses.
9. We own our own tent, two 8 foot displays, tables, chairs, pictures, and signs.
10. Our plan was never to attempt to raise money for the charities, our plan was to disseminate information on our charities. People came by and insisted we take their donations, it was never much, but we have an account of every penny and it will be divided with the three charities in December.
11. Is there a way we could become a fund raiser for the Charities? We will be talking about this and other idea’s over the winter.
12. May I say again, we plan to do this next year. Come help us, it feels good. 
Fraternally, Don Wilson

• This was the 16th Annual Matthews Alive Festival, however, I think the festival has been in existence much longer than that, but under another name. I want to say it was called Stumptown Festival, but I am not sure. The Masonic Charities for Kids display was there for the first time at the invitation of the Matthews Masonic Lodge. They have sold hamburgers and hot dogs, with all the trimmings, for many years in front of their lodge building, with great success, as we found out, when the public came looking for these men and their burgers.

• The first discussion I had with Mike Warr PM on Tuesday, before the Festival started on Friday, was, their Lodge was going to place a 10X10 tent on the lodge grounds behind their two 20×20 tents for our display. I wondered about this arrangement, but, this was our first festival in Matthews and with the exhibit space sold out, we were satisfied going anywhere they told us because this festival draws big attendance.
•  Jr. Harward PM and I arrived Friday morning to set up the display that he spent many hours building to accommodate the pictures from our charities, The Masonic Home for Children at Oxford NC, The Charlotte Scottish Rite Children’s Learning Center and the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children. Our sole purpose was to inform the public of these charities, not too raise money or increase membership in the fraternity. In making the public aware of our charities, we also wanted to dispel the notion of the secret organization, the sect or the cult idea.
• Once we were ready to set up, Mike Warr PM said that the lodge had found the frame but, no top and he was personally going right then to buy us a tent. We could not let him do that so we asked about setting up in front of the lodge under the overhang on both sides of the entrance and were given permission to do that. Now this had to be providential as there was at least a 20 foot space between the lodge tent in the street and the one beside it which opened up to the yard and entrance of the lodge.The lodge opened their building up to the public and on the ground floor are rest rooms and a large dining hall. You can imagine the business these facilities received and we were there to hold the door. Sometimes folks were in a hurry when they came in but were less rushed when they came out. It did not matter where the public purchased their food they were still invited to come in, relax in the air conditioning and enjoy their food.
• We manned our display from 6 to 10 pm on Friday August 29th, 9 am to 9 pm on Saturday the 30th, Sunday the 31st, 12 noon to 9pm and Monday, Labor Day 9 am to 5 pm. I have already mentioned Jr. Harward PM who worked the entire time. We were joined during the week-end by, Bob Bryant and Mike Elliott PM who helped sep up the display, Jim Adams, Carl Pinion, Max Walker PM, DDGM , Mack Archer, Gary Isenhour PM and John Elliott as well as John Hall, Jack Stegall PM, and Billy Kiser who stopped by.
• The first person I talked to on Friday evening was a lady with a son who started fifth grade on Monday. She said he came home and told her he could not read as well as others in his class and he did not want to go back to school. She said, ”please, can the Scottish Rite Learning Center help him”? She was given the phone number of the Learning Center. One of our guys talked to a lady who came in to enjoy lunch with a child who had an obvious need for orthopedic help. She initiated the discussion and asked how to contact the hospital and we directed her through Oasis Shrine Center.
• There is story after story of needs, and we make no guarantee or promise of help only that we can direct them to the place to start. I said earlier that we were not raising money for the charities or trying to increase membership in the fraternity, however many discussions seem to go back to someone’s father, grandfather, brother or uncle who was or is a Mason, a 32 degree Mason or Shriner. Through these discussions, we were privileged, to give Matthews Lodge the names of four men interested in becoming Masons. We will give to Mint Hill Lodge a name of a man who inquired about membership in the Mint Hill area as that is where he lives and knows of the activity of that lodge.
• There are by-products of this effort, fellowship among Masons’ and many discussions of how we can do this better and more effective. It was brought to our attention that The York Rite Bodies should be a part of this effort and a contact has already been made with positive results. We look forward to their joining us. A steering committee is being formed and one of the first of many idea’s that will be presented to them is how do we take Masonic Charities for Kids into Parades?
• Fraternally, Don Wilson
• More Photos Here

Click the above pic to see more from our 2nd Annual Roger Hart Memorial Golf Tournament to benefit the Charlotte Scottish Rite Children’s Learning Center, held May 23rd, 2008 at the Charlotte National Golf Course – more details will follow.