Monday, August 27, 2018

Knight of the Holy Land

While at the 67th Triennial of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America, I enjoyed meeting knights from all over the world. One of the Grand Encampment's charities is the Knights Templar Eye Foundation. This foundation is funded primarily by local Commanderies, but some Grand Commanderies have formed an endowment fund. One example is the Grand Commandery of Oklahoma who created the Holy Land Pilgrimage Endowment.

According to the Grand Commandery of Oklahoma: 
At the 2015 session of this Grand Commandery, a permanent Holy Land Pilgrimage Endowment was authorized to be established as a separate, segregated account within the Grand Commandery of Oklahoma. The purpose was to create an investment pool of funds whose earnings would be used solely for the benefit of the Oklahoma Holy Land Pilgrimage program. The fund was established, and contributions received
This fund helps pay the expenses of sending a Minister to the Holy Land under the sponsorship of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar. By 2017, they had 22 Sir Knights who had donated to this fund. Those who have contributed at least $1,000 to the fund are entitled to wear a jewel (see pic) as well as receiving a plaque and lapel pin. I think this is a fantastic idea and will be striving to bring this to the Grand Commandery of Idaho.

1 comment:

  1. The Grand Commandery of Virginia recently instituted this program. The award (medal with purple ribbon only) is presented to a Sir Knight for a donation of $500 or more to the HLP. There are approximately 14 recipients at this time.

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