
Why become a member?
Under the authority of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, the Odd Fellows support an Educational Foundation, the Pilgrimage for Youth Program, Eye Research and Eye Banks, the Arthritis Society plus many Jurisdictional projects. Over the past decade, Odd Fellow Lodges around the world have spent more than six million dollars in the relief of distress. The total spent in relief of distress since 1830 is more than one billion dollars.
In Ontario, the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs are quite involved in providing funds to the University of Toronto, Department of Ophthalmology, as well as the Ontario Eye Bank Laboratory. During the decade of the 1980’s, the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs donated $ 200,000.00 to the University of Toronto for their eye research projects. We entered the 1990’s with an initial pledge of $ 20,000.00 to this ongoing project, each year. This Ontario Committee also recently established an annual scholarship for a student specializing in ophthalmology research at the University of Toronto.
The Odd Fellows and Rebekahs of Ontario also provided the initial funding to organize and operate Camp Trillium. These camps provide summer and now winter camping enjoyment for young people suffering from cancer. Our support of this project is ongoing, and has increased each year since its inception. We established the Odd Fellows and Rebekah Capital Fund, with its purpose to raise money for capital expenditures. Currently this fund is paying the mortgages held on OuR Island near Wellington Ontario. We also provide support for Leukemia Research in the amount of $ 1,250.00 per month all year round.
Many local committees provide various items of hospital equipment for use by needy individuals, for as long as they need them, without cost.