Spreading Friendship, Love and Truth
You may see individuals removing graffiti and painting city bus stops in various sections of the community or folks picking up trash along the beach and along our adopted highway in Laie. We are also there to assist in various activities or monetary contributions with the Institute of Human Services, Hawaii Food Bank, Juvenile Drug Court, Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii, Special Olympics, Sex Abuse Treatment Center, Family Programs Hawaii, Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii, Lokahi, Waikiki Health Center and others.
We are the Odd Fellows. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is an international organization that began in 18th century England. At that time, there was plenty of sickness, orphaned children and widowed mothers, and many people could not afford to pay for a decent burial for the dead. Ordinary people from different walks of life banded together to help each other and other unfortunate families back on their feet, whether it was rebuilding a barn that had burned or putting in a new crop after a devastating season.
It was deemed to be “odd” to find people organized for the purpose of giving aid to those in need and to pursue projects for the benefit of mankind without recognition. This group or society became known as The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Today, this fraternity of men, women and youths has expanded to more than 200,000 members in 26 countries – and continues to strive to “improve and elevate the character of mankind.”
Odd Fellowship in Hawaii was established on December 10, 1846. In 1910, King Kamehameha IV signed a charter allowing our lodge to become a formal corporation in the Territory of Hawaii.
The Odd Fellows are recognized for three links in a chain, designating friendship (F), love (L) and truth (T) – the basic guides for our organization.
The Hawaii chapter provides monetary contributions to various charitable organizations with an emphasis on local organizations. We provide manpower and assist in coordinating other community service or charitable projects.
We also assist with other lodges in cleaning and maintenance of the Battleship Missouri and visits to the Crawford Senior Home.
As individuals and as a group, we enjoy the charitable work that we do, and we certainly have fun performing our community service.
For more information about our organization, please visit us at ioofhawaii.org.
Hawaii charitable organizations may send requests for space in either Proof Positive or the free advertisement below to dchapman@midweek.com.
