Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction
Investing in Children
"It is the saddest of all sights upon this earth, that of a man lazy and luxurious … to whom want appeals in vain, and suffering cries in an unknown tongue. He is the faithless steward, that embezzles what God has given him in trust for the impoverished and suffering among his brethren." "Charity is the great channel through which God passes all His mercy upon mankind." "God himself is love; and every degree of charity that dwells in us is the participation of the Divine nature."
_____ Albert Pike, Sovereign Grand Commander, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction from his election in 1859 until his death in 1891, as quoted by the present Sovereign Grand Commander, C. Fred Kleinknecht, in the April 1996 Scottish Rite Journal.
One of the most visible and appreciated charities of the AASR, SJ, is the Program for Childhood Language Disorders. Believing that the child who cannot effectively receive and transmit thoughts and emotions due to hearing, understanding or speaking problems, or a combination of these, can have his or her normal development severely impacted, the Scottish Rite has built and staffed about 125 clinics, centers, and programs, (as of early 1996), across the U.S. with more in the planning stage, for the diagnosis and treatment of these problems in children. Some six million children suffer from these problems in the U.S.
The Northern Jurisdiction has joined with the Southern Jurisdiction in wholehearted support of establishing and operating these clinics and centers. The most populous and largest states each have a large number of sites in operation or planned. California Scottish Rite Masons, for example, are operating 13 sites with Texas having 8 sites in operation with another in planning. Virginia Scottish Rite Masons operate five sites and endow scholarships at James Madison, Old Dominion and Radford Universities for students preparing to become speech and hearing therapists. This program was started in the early 1950s in Colorado and has grown rapidly.
Scottish Rite members also provide the financial support essential to operate the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas and the Scottish Rite Children’s Medial Center in Atlanta.
Scottish Rite Masons receive great personal emotional satisfaction from visiting all of these sites and talking with parents and children who have advanced rapidly in overcoming their problems as a direct result of their treatments.
Submitted by: John Shroeder, KCCH based upon information in the April 1996 Scottish Rite Journal