The brothers of Capitol City Lodge #2 and the sisters of Friendship Chapter #2 of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, Inc. distributed Thanksgiving dinner baskets in the Madison area on Nov. 9 to make sure families had the food and fixings for a great holiday meal.
“We were excited to give away turkey baskets to families throughout the city of Madison. We were able to provide complete meals to families across our community, and really around this time, we wanted to combat some of the food insecurities and things that were happening around SNAP benefits,” Derek Johnson, a longtime member of the Capitol City Lodge #2 Prince Hall Masons, tells Madison365.
Less than a week later, on Saturday, Nov. 15, Capitol City Lodge #2 hosted its first-ever winter clothing initiative.
“I’d say it was a major success. We provided winter clothing, coats, hats, boots, and gloves to local children throughout the city to keep them warm through the harsh Wisconsin winters here, and it was very well received,” Johnson says. “We gave away 23 coats this year.”
The winter clothing initiative was in partnership with Madison-Beloit Consistory #84 and Salaam Temple #83. Johnson says that the winter clothing initiative was a new initiative for his organization, and the men enjoyed making the connections and building the relationships in the community during the drive.
“This is a new initiative for us, and I think the families really appreciated us going out and delivering the winter clothing to each home,” Johnson says. “This is part of our initiative under the umbrella of ‘Embrace a Family’. Capital City Lodge is really committed to providing services and charity to really uplift our local community.”
Madison’s Capitol City Lodge No. 2, one of the lodges belonging to The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F. & A. M. of Wisconsin, Inc., was established in 1906. Prince Hall Freemasonry is the oldest and largest African American Masonic organization. Founded by Prince Hall, it looks to foster racial uplift, mutual aid, and social justice.
“We are one of 11 Prince Hall lodges in the state of Wisconsin, under the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Wisconsin. Prince Hall masonry began in 1775 when Prince Hall and 14 other free Black men were initiated into Freemasonry. So we have a long history and tradition at Prince Hall of service, charity and community uplift,” says Johnson, who is also the director of student engagement at the UW-Madison College of Engineering. “Charity is one of our fundamental moral virtues. So again, we’re really committed to supporting our local community as well as supporting each other as brothers.”
Earlier in the year, around Easter time, members of the Capital City Lodge #2 delivered Easter baskets to families throughout Madison. Johnson, who has been a Prince Hall Mason for 15 years, says he really enjoys the organization’s efforts to give back to the community in which they live.
“The thing I really value most about being a Mason is having the opportunity to work with my fellow brothers and being able to do something that really has a direct impact on our community,” he says. “I think with the winter clothing initiative, as well as the Thanksgiving baskets, it speaks volumes to the need that’s in the community, and it’s important for us to be on the forefront of really being involved in that way and doing what we can to help meet the real needs of people in our community.”
Johnson says that they currently have 67 brothers in Madison Lodge, officially chartered in 1925, and are looking to continue both the Thanksgiving baskets and the winter clothing initiatives every year.
“We want this to be sort of a staple in the Madison community, and a program initiative that we do every single year. So that is definitely the goal here,” Johnson says. “With both the Thanksgiving baskets and the winter clothing, brothers from the lodge and everyone really stepped up and donated to these initiatives so that we could provide for our local community. It was great to see.”
