ADOPTION OF CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM CURABLE CANCER

At the Regional Grand Board of General Purposes meeting held at Jabalpur, the President & the members of the Board approved a novel project of The Regional Grand Lodge of W.I., of adopting children suffering from curable cancer. It was decided to have this project monitored by Lodge Fellowship No. 140 at Ahmedabad & W. Bro. Rajiv Sethi was given the responsibility for the same.

During the visit on 4th October 2006 of M. W. The Grand Master, M. W. Bro. Arun Chintopanth along with R. W. The Regional Grand Master of W.I., R. W. Bro. Vasudev Masurekar, the Brethren of Lodge Fellowship, Ahmedabad had invited Dr. Pankaj Shah, Director, Gujarat Cancer Society, Ahmedabad, who was introduced to the audience by Bro. Deepak Bhatt of Lodge Fellowship.

Dr. Pankaj Shah was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of Freemasons of Western India in undertaking such laudable projects and mentioned that though he was not a freemason but in future whenever he would meet a freemason he would refer to him as a brother. Dr. Pankaj Shah gave an overview of the activities of The Gujarat Cancer Society as also the scheme of adoption of children suffering from curable cancer. He explained the term curable cancer & how the poor & needy children suffering from this deadly disease could be cured if given the right treatment at the right time. He mentioned that the high expenses involved in the treatment of cancer were a deterrent for the poor and The Regional Grand Lodge of W.I., by adopting such children would be saving many lives. He thanked the Regional Grand Master of W.I. & the brethren of The Regional Grand Lodge of W.I. for having undertaken this laudable project of providing treatment & quality life to the children suffering from curable cancer.

On this occasion, R.W. The Regional Grand Master of W.I., R.W. Bro. Vasudev Masurekar mentioned how this project was initiated by Mrs. Heena Udeshi, wife of our Past M. W. The Grand Master, M.W. Bro. Dilip Udeshi. The Masonic Ladies Association of Mumbai took the initial step in adopting a child suffering from curable cancer at Ahmedabad. R.W. The Regional Grand Master then announced that the Regional Grand Lodge of W.I., would be adopting atleast 13 children suffering from curable cancer. He then presented an initial cheque of Rs. 75,000/= only from The Regional Grand Lodge of W.I. towards adoption of 5 children to Dr. Pankaj Shah with an assurance that the balance amount would follow shortly.

Since the time of implementation of this project a total no. of 13 children have been adopted & a sum of nearly Rs. 2 lacs has been disbursed to The Gujarat Cancer Society for these children who are suffering from Curable Cancer.