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IF YOU RECEIVE A PLEA IN THE MAIL FROM MOOSE
CHARITIES,
PLEASE BE GENEROUS
By Donald H. Ross, Director General
Fellows and Pilgrims of the Order, Moose Legionnaires, all Women of the Moose degree holders and other
selected members, all will receive a heartfelt request in
January's mail from Past Supreme Governor Steve Greene, President
of Moose Charities. He'll be asking you to help, with a personal check, the people we cherish most: our kids at Mooseheart.
Why this unusual request for contributions to shore up the operations budget at the Child City? The answer is printed
every day on your daily newspapers business pages: the slumping stock market. I told you at the International Convention in
June of the stagnant performance of our invested funds, including the Mooseheart/Moosehaven Endowment Fund. Since then especially
since the September 11 terrorist attacks we've seen not stagnation but something worse: a significant decline in the value
of some of those investments. As you know, we have for decades relied on investment returns from the Endowment Fund to meet
more than 80% of Moosehearts annual operating expenses. Weve not had any significant returns for roughly two years, and now
it looks like that will be three years.
So we must have your help to get the Mooseheart community through this tough
period. So if you receive this request in January, please give generously. And the next time an Endowment Fund cradle is passed,
there's never been a more crucial time to give.
Thank you!
BUILD A BEQUEST - LEAVE A LEGACY
Considered including Mooseheart or Moosehaven in your will and estate plans.
Moose
Charities will send you information on how to do it, just write them at;
Moose Charities, Mooseheart, IL 60539-1100 or
check out their website at
www.moosecharities.org.
IS THERE A MARLBORO TEEN UP TO THIS CHALLENGE? EIGHT WEEKS
WORKING IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Adapted from
the article, Moose Kids are Eligible for the Experience of a Lifetime: A Yellowstone Summer!
By Jim Morgan, Assistant
Director, Community Service.
Moose International will sponsor 3 Moose Teens for an 8-week Youth Conservation Corps
this summer at Yellowstone National Park. This could be the expereince of a lifetime. See page 43 of the December/January
issue of Moose Magazine. Whats there? An application form for the Youth Conservation Corps program at Yellowstone National
Park!
Every spring for nearly a quarter-century, hundreds of kids, ages 15-18, have applied for one of the 32 positions
in the summer YCC program in Americas premier national
park. For the lucky 32, it means eight weeks of learning, earning
and growing, in one of the most beautiful places in North America the 2 million acres of Yellowstone.
For the last 12
years, some of those 32 spaces have specially reserved for Moose teens because since 1990, it has been the Moose fraternity's
generosity that has funded this entire National Park Service program, at more than $135,000 a year. In 2002, four spots are
reserved for teens from Mooseheart High School, while another three are reserved for teens from Moose households two from
the U.S. and one from Canada.
As you and your Teen will see on the application form, young people are eligible if
they will be between 15 and 18 during the period between June 15 Aug 15, 2002. They must be willing and able to do physically
vigorous labor such as trail and footbridge construction, backcountry cabin restoration; revegetation programs; and maintenance
of trails, fences, campgrounds and buildings. During this time, theyll embark on at least one backcountry-camp work period
of 10 days, sleeping in tents and cooking outdoors.
At the same time, teens experience essentially a summer seminar in
conservation, forestry and other nature studies amid Yellowstones highly varied ecosystem unique in North America featuring
geysers, fumeroles, grassy plains, pine forests and rocky peaks as much as 11,000 feet in elevation. On weekends, YCCers enjoy
activities such as light-duty mountain climbing, whitewater rafting, and more. It all adds up to what past participants agree
is one of the most memorable summers of their lives.
It all begins with that application on page 43 of the Moose
Magazine. Cut it out, complete it, and mail it to Mooseheart before March 15, 2002. If you can't locate the form,
please
call the Lodge Office.
DURING THIS TIME, WE NEED TO SALUTE OUR
VETERANS MORE THAN EVER
By James E. Morgan, Assistant Director,
Community Service
Our military units have once again been called upon to preserve Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness as it was written and declared in Philadelphia some 225 years ago. Through the ages, our military units have traveled
to foreign soils to defend democracy, preserve our freedoms and to assure that our future will always hold our principles
and values aloft.
Again, we ask all units of the Moose Fraternity to be guided by their deep gratitude and overwhelming
thanks to our military by volunteering their time, effort and resources to assist our veterans.
An integral part of our
Moose International Six-Point Community Service Program centers on local voluntary service. The Department of Veterans Affairs
Voluntary Service provides our units the opportunity to participate in a unique and patriotic program that occurs annually
during the week of Feb. 14. Each year, during this week, the Department of Veterans Affairs sponsors a National
Salute
to Hospitalized Veterans at the 172 VA medical facilities across the country.
The National Salute is an excellent opportunity
to say thank you to a very special group of men and women. VA doctors, nurses and volunteers know how much a simple hello
and a friendly smile can mean to a hospitalized veteran. It is, indeed, a prescription we can fill.
During the National
Salute, the Lodges small investment of time visiting veterans at a medical center or clinic can bring joy and heartfelt satisfaction
to men and women whom we may sometimes forget, but whose legacy benefits us daily and forever. There is also the satisfaction
every member and co-worker can receive by filling a prescription for a simple hello or a friendly smile.
For its
efforts, a Lodge will receive Community Service credit from Moose International.
Lets make a special effort to be
part of the VA's National Salute this year. Please let the Lodge and/or Chapter know about your visit to the VA medical center
or clinic
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