On Saturday, January 25th, we had Richmond’s Installation of Officers! The Worthy Advisor for this term is Melanie and she has a sparkly term! This is her second term as Worthy Advisor and she really knows how to sparkle! Her charity is about sending all of us to Supreme this July! Wow! How exciting is that?

My term as Worthy Advisor started in July of 2013. My theme was ‘Dreams’ and my charity was Operation Smile.

Operation Smile provides surgeries to kids born with a Cleft Lip/Palate birth defect, which is a split in the upper lip and roof of the mouth. Unfortunately, some families can’t afford the surgery for their child, and without the surgery, 1 in 3 kids will die before their first birthday or find it difficult to talk, eat, and socialize. This charity was really important to me because I was born with a Cleft Lip and I got my surgery from Operation Smile when I was only a few months old.

To kids who receive their surgery, Operation Smile is a dream come true. So, during my term, I had a lot of different kinds of fundraisers like carwashes, carnivals, face painting, and dinners. I also received donations from people and groups and the Phoebus community merchants even helped by collecting change from their customers. My goal was to raise $1,500, enough to pay for six kids whose families aren’t as fortunate enough to be able to afford the surgery.

After all the hard work with the help of the girls of Hampton Assembly No. 2, the fundraisers (just about every other weekend) and help from my sister who raised $528.97 during her term, I managed to not only meet my goal but exceed it. I invited representatives from Operation Smile to an open meeting on January 19, 2014 and presented them with a $2,750 check. They were very grateful and told me that was enough to pay for over ten (10) surgeries.

Julia
Hampton Assembly #2

On Friday November 22 some Rainbow Girls from Hampton, Fairfax, and I went to Occoquan Chapter Order of Demolay Installation of Officers. It was the first Demolay Installation I had ever been to and I was very impressed. They held it in the George Washington Masonic Memorial which was gorgeous, the lodge room was huge with two floors. Most of the visiting members sat in the nose bleed section but some of the others girls and I got front row seats! The installing team did a fantastic job with their ritual work. My favorite part of their ritual is that they explain a little bit about what Demolay is before they install the officers. Brother Alex Hite was installed as Master Counselor. It was very cool to see our brother organization in action. I am looking forward to my next visit to a Demolay event.

Grand Worthy Associate Advisor

Richmond #12

Brigitte