Fraternal Assistance Needed For Masons in Beirut, Lebanon

by Christopher Hodapp

On August 4th, Beirut, Lebanon was devastated when a harbor warehouse was leveled by a pair of massive explosions. In an instant, more than 200 people were killed and 60,000 injured when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer detonated. Buildings were damaged for miles around when the blast wave hit, and an estimated 300,000 people were left homeless by the destruction. The damage caused by the blast left buildings miles from the port explosion in ruin. The blast comes at a terrible time for the nation of Lebanon, which was already on the brink of financial collapse facing a disastrous economic crisis.

Freemasons from three regular, recognized grand lodge jurisdictions have banded together to organize a financial relief initiative to provide compensation to Masons and other individuals who were directly affected by the disaster. 

The Fraternal Assistance Crisis Team (F.A.C.T. Lebanon) is made up of representatives from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, and the Grande Loge National Française. All three of these grand lodges have Masonic lodges currently chartered and at work in Lebanon.

The F.A.C.T. Lebanon website has been set up in both English and French to accept international fraternal donations. According to the website, "The Fund will follow strict rules with regards to processes and transparency in the resource and information for eligibility criteria, the methodology used to calculate economic and non-economic loss and compensation payment procedures."

In early August, WB Robert L. D. Cooper, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and curator of their Masonic museum issued the following statement about the F.A.C.T. Lebanon assistance program:

COMMUNICATION FROM BEIRUT

Good Morning Brethren - a quick update from Beirut. Burial of relatives of our brethren who tragically lost their lives are now underway and we are taking account of the damages of our own membership and temples.

We are liaising with each other to ensure provision is made for medicines for our brethren as we have fully covered accommodation for those whose homes are not viable.

In the next 48 hours, we will be launching a contribution page for anyone wishing to assist along with the two other jurisdictions in amity with our Grand Lodge, Grand Lodge of Washington DC, and Grand Lodge National de France. This is becoming critical as the government has not done anything to assist and the situation is getting more difficult for many by the day.

On Lodge level, many of our Lodges have started various initiatives to support their own communities in the areas they meet, from providing hundreds of meals for the medical teams who are practically living in the hospitals to provision of soup kitchens, blood donation and volunteer work for repairs.

Our Cypriot brothers have organized a shipment of food which will be making its way to the port of Tripoli in the Northern region of Lebanon.

May the Great Architect of the Universe continue to protect us all.

FACT LEBANON’s support and donations will be channeled and directed into these main Relief categories:

• Medical & Health-Related Relief: To support individuals who have suffered injuries or physical disability (hospitalization, medicine, medical equipment, etc).
• Rebuilding & Relocation Relief: To support in home refurbishing and restoration, relocation, and loss of business/economic damage of offices and business structures.
• Memorial-Related Relief: To support the families, widows and orphans of victims following the death of the family breadwinner.

For more information and donations, CLICK HERE.

PLEASE NOTE: The FACT Lebanon website does not accept Paypal for donations, but you can donate there via credit card. Be aware that some U.S. banks and credit card systems may decline the foreign payment when you try the first time, unless you commonly make other international payments or transactions. (This is an automated safeguard against nefarious activity that card companies commonly use today — they're afraid somebody is using your stolen credit card number to rent a helicopter in Dubai.) If the system declines the payment, be sure to check your email for a notice form your bank before trying again. They're trying to protect you, but that can often be an annoyance if you don't see the message that your payment got flagged. 

That said, I successfully made a donation using my American card in late August and it worked fine.


US DONATIONS AND PAYPAL UPDATE 9/28/2020:

The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia has also set up a U.S. portal for donating to FACT Lebanon via Paypal or by check. Visit their separate website HERE.

Also at that site is a 4-page document with a detailed explanation of the program and details about its distribution.

To donate by U.S. check, please make payable to The DC Masonic Foundation and mail to:

The DC Masonic Foundation
5428 MacArthur Blvd. NW
Washington, DC 20016-2524

In the memo section, please write: "Beirut Relief Fund"