Community Report

Community Impact Report

As a not-for-profit organization, and as part of our Mission of Love, Masonic Villages extends services to surrounding communities and individuals of all ages. While many efforts were placed on hold or modified in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff and residents were still able to impact neighbors and local organizations through donations of time, money and expertise, as well as items such as fresh produce and knit hats.

The Masonic Villages proudly provided $34.6 million of charitable care and services across Pennsylvania in 2020. This amount consists of approximately $9.9 million (at cost) of free care and services and $24.7 million (at cost) for care and services above the amount reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid and other third party payers.

In addition, Masonic Villages provided more than $410,532 in scholarships, donations to local emergency services providers, internships and community assistance to our neighbors in Dallas, Elizabethtown, Lafayette Hill, Sewickley and Warminster.

Community Engagement and Support

Masonic Villages works with other organizations to help fulfill needs in the community, some of which also benefit our residents. Many of our programs with local schools and organizations in need of meeting space were postponed in 2020, and we look forward to re-engaging safely with these groups soon.

To benefit Elizabethtown Community Housing and Outreach Services (ECHOS), which runs a winter shelter

Elizabethtown resident Nancy Balmer, shown with Pastor Preston Van Deursen, director of spirtiual care, knitted 70 hats, which she donated to Sell Chapel’s Outreach program. The hats were shared with the Christmas Shop, run through the Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church and ECHOS.

at St. Paul’s Methodist Church for those with emergency living needs, Masonic Village at Elizabethtown’s environmental services department washed 3,475 pounds of sheets, blankets, comforters and towels free of charge, donating staff time valued at approximately $2,015.

In early 2020, eight fourth grade classes, or about 120 students, from Milton Hershey School worked with six Masonic Village at Elizabethtown residents on a project using a process called “design thinking” to create assistive devices that older adults may find useful. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the project, and both groups look forward to connecting on future projects.

Business and Economic Support

As a not-for-profit organization, Masonic Villages is not required to pay real estate taxes; however, we value municipalities’ services and understand their plights, as costs impact local taxes. Through Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreements signed in Dallas, Elizabethtown, Lafayette Hill and Sewickley, we paid $2,232,396 to local boroughs, townships, counties and school districts in 2020.

Supporting the local economy is also a priority. Through contracts with 356 businesses in the Dallas, Elizabethtown, Lafayette Hill and Sewickley areas, Masonic Villages purchased approximately $4.86 million of products and services.

Masonic Village at Elizabethtown was named a 2020 Exceptional Business Partner for supporting Goodwill Keystone Area’s mission. Through Goodwill’s employment services, environmental services staff spent

more than 250 hours training Rebecca Shultz (shown in top right photo), who is now employed full-time with Masonic Village as an environmental services worker.

Masonic Village at Elizabethtown and Penn State University established a mutually beneficial partnership in 2018 which allows students to gain practical experience and complete academic requirements, while working to advance Masonic Village initiatives, such as sustainability and improved use of technology. In 2020, these initiatives included a hydroponic garden planter, which is easier to manage than a regular garden, and a strength augmenter for lifting.

Donations

Masonic Villages seeks ways to support other charitable organizations whenever possible. We contributed more than $33,100 to fire and EMS companies, libraries and other causes in 2020.

The Masonic Village Farm Market donated more than 100 pounds of food weekly to the Community Cupboard of Elizabethtown, East Donegal-Conoy Food Bank and the Elizabethtown First Church of God meal program.

Masonic Village Hospice raised more than $11,584 for the 2020 Relay for Life of Lancaster, benefiting the American Cancer Society.

We contributed $15,000 to the Elizabethtown Area Education Foundation to help generate support for the foundation’s grant program to enhance learning experiences in the classroom and beyond.

At Masonic Villages’ Elizabethtown and Sewickley locations, we awarded $15,000 in scholarships to six graduating high school seniors and college students who volunteered at least 100 hours with us during their high school years.

Educational Opportunities

Masonic Villages is proud to work with local schools and universities to welcome students seeking internships and job shadow experiences to help enhance their formal education. In 2020, some of these opportunities were accomplished online, while others were postponed until we can invite students back safely.

Across the state, interns joined us in the public relations department and in administration. In clinical settings, including the pharmacy, music therapy, therapeutic recreation, social services, hospice and environmental services departments, staff supervised more than 110 students for an estimated 12,916 hours – time valued at approximately $63,207.

Based on national community benefits reporting standards, 20% of staff time overseeing students in a clinical setting may be quantified as a community benefit.

For several years, Masonic Village at Elizabethtown has teamed up with Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 to offer students internships and real world job experiences in environmental services and other fields. We hosted 15 students in 2020 (shown in bottom photo above). Read more about the program on p. 4.

Paige MacConnell is working toward an integrated Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Administration and Master of Health Administration at Penn State University. She completed her internship last summer with Noah Davis, executive director of Masonic Village at Dallas.

“Although this was primarily a virtual internship, Mr. Davis tried to expose me to as much as he could and made it a valuable, worthwhile experience. I have gained a much better understanding of this side of healthcare, specifically independent living. Completing this internship during a

Youth at the Masonic Children’s Home enjoy an ice cream party.

pandemic was a learning experience in itself, and I was able to observe how Masonic Village adapted to those changes. I believe the skills and knowledge I gained will definitely help me down the road in my future endeavors. Everyone worked together as a team, and the focus was always put on the residents. I am very fortunate to have had this experience with such a devoted team of caring individuals.”

Outreach and Home Assistance

Funded through generous contributions, the Masonic Children’s Home in Elizabethtown does not charge individuals, organizations, or the state or federal government for its services. It provides a home for up to 40 youth who are being raised by aging grandparents or who come from various social or economic environments which do not provide necessary security and support. Children do not need to have a Masonic affiliation in their family to be eligible for services. In 2020, the Elizabethtown Area School District received $404,953 through reciprocity agreements with the school districts from which the children come to us.

Masonic Village’s Outreach Program distributed $21,412 in home assistance support to individuals and families. The program also operates a Durable Medical Loan Equipment Closet, which provides equipment to families on a short-term basis at no cost. We supplied wheelchairs, walkers, canes, shower chairs and other equipment to 15 individuals in 2020.

Resident Contributions

Last year, residents contributed to service projects that benefited children, students, older adults, emergency service providers and those with food and housing insecurities. Masonic Village at Dallas residents participated in an Adopt a Road project to help clean up nearby Country Club Road and volunteered at the Back Mountain Food Pantry, along with donating nonperishable goods and $4,006 to support its mission. They also contributed $500 and pet supplies to Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge, a zero-kill organization, located in Dallas.

A dozen members of Masonic Village at Sewickley’s PLARN (plastic yarn) group knit plastic mats for the New Life Community Church in Pittsburgh, which donates them to homeless individuals. A group of residents also knit blankets, robes and hats for Project Linus, a national nonprofit organization which donates blankets to children in hospitals, including Shriners Hospitals for Children; shelters; social service agencies; or anywhere a need arises. They donated 124 blankets and 71 quilts in 2020.

The Craft Group at the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown donated proceeds from sales of their homemade items to numerous Masonic and community charities, including $2,000 each to Northwest EMS and Friendship Fire & Hose Co. The Grey Lions of Elizabethtown, Masonic Village’s Penn State alumni interest group, awarded $1,000 scholarships in 2020 to five deserving Penn State students.

Residents of the Bleiler Caring Cottage participated in community service projects, including collecting food for ECHOS and Community Cupboard of Elizabethtown and cleaning up trash at the Elizabethtown Train Station and/ or Wolgemuth Community Park bi-monthly. They also participated in Share-A-Card, providing 600 Christmas cards for terminally ill individuals across the country.

Masonic Village at Elizabethtown’s Garden Club sponsored a “Victory Garden” initiative in which garden volunteers planted produce in all available gardens to donate to campus restaurants, residents (including the Masonic Children’s Home and Bleiler Caring Cottage), staff and the Community Cupboard of Elizabethtown. Thanks to donations from residents, the Retirement Living Residents’ Association also presented $12,170 to the Community Cupboard to support their mission. Sell Chapel provided $5,000 to the First Church of God of Elizabethtown in April for its food pantry’s bagged lunches.

View our full Community Report online at www.masonicvillages.org/about/community-report/.