The North Carolina Mason

Q&A with Dan Rice Past Grand Master and alumnus of the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford WHAT IS IT ABOUT OUR HOME THAT DRAWS MASONS BACK TO CAMPUS YEAR AFTER YEAR? I believe that everyone has a deep-down desire to help others. As Masons we have made a commitment to help the widows and the orphans. Oxford is the perfect place to be able to help needy children. If anything demonstrates the historical charitable giving of North Carolina Masons, it is our Home in Oxford. It was started totally on faith as it certainly did not have the means to survive when it opened in 1873. Every time the Home was against what appeared to be impossible financial issues, the Masons and the citizens of North Carolina have always come through and helped. The Masons of North Carolina come back year after year because they want to be a part of this great charity that has been doing God's work for 150 years. It is obvious to anyone who spends any time on the Oxford campus that great things are being done there every single day. We may not be building any pyramids or great edifices, but we are helping save children. WHAT IS THE DRAW FOR ALUMNI? IS IT THE PLACE ITSELF, OR THE CHILDREN THERE TODAY, OR IS IT AN OPPORTUNITY TO RENEW THE BONDS THAT ALUMNI HAVE WITH ONE ANOTHER? The Home in Oxford is from whence we came. We have walked that sacred ground and lived there, and for many of us it is the only real home we remember. We didn't just live there. We went to school, ate there, played ball, worked there and even worshipped God there. We are a band of brothers and sisters who are wound tightly together by the shared experiences we had at Oxford. It could be a hard place to live, but we are survivors and we are tied together by a love and a set of experiences that most other people would struggle to understand. Most of us alumni want to help the Home in any way possible, because that means helping the children who live there now and will live there in the future. The Masonic Home for Children is our home and always will be. WHY DO SO MANY WHO HAVE NEVER SEEN THE HOME SEND THEIR GIFTS AND RAISE MONEY FOR US IN THEIR COMMUNITIES? We have the perfect story to raise money. We have children who need help. We have a wonderful and beautiful campus. We have a historical foundation built on 150 years of helping children. Eleven thousand children served during that 150-year period is an amazing story. Our Home has a proven record of maximizing any gifts they receive to help children. We have a wonderful staff and strong leadership at the board level. The alumni of the Home and their children and grandchildren have lived in almost every community across the state. The real story is about each one of the children living there. Each child at Oxford has a different reason for being there now. Each child has different needs and each one has something special to offer the world when they leave the Home. Our Home in Oxford is a winner and almost everyone wants to help a winner! WHY DO YOU INVEST YOUR TIME, TALENT AND TREASURE THERE? The campus in Oxford is my home. It was the only real home that I remember. I love to go back and walk the campus and just let my mind wander through those times so many years ago when I played, worked, cried and prayed on the campus. They were the best of times and also some of the hardest times. I believe that God teaches us through both the ebbs and flows of life. My life and the lives of all my orphanage brothers and sisters were totally changed because of the experiences we had at the Home. We were able to live there because the Masons were willing to share their resources to help take care of us. We grew up on the receiving end of Masonic charity. By the example set by the Masons, we quietly learned what it means to give. It is a blessing to be able to give my time and whatever limited talents that God has blessed me with to help Oxford. I have been trying to make a positive difference in the lives of the children at Oxford for a very long time. I have always wanted to give back financially whenever I could. I recognized a long time ago that whatever treasure or financial resources I was holding onto were not really mine. In the end everything belongs to God and He can give and take it away with equal speed. We are really just caretakers of material possessions. I have always given back to my home in Oxford and have been blessed for doing it. It is just an old orphan boy paying ahead for the next child in need. S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 | 15

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