Nebraska Masonic Foundation

Mission

The Foundation was formed in 1985 by a group of Brothers as a charitable foundation and is tax-exempt under IRC 501c(3). Nebraska Masons are members of the Foundation by virtue of their gift(s) to the Foundation. They are entitled to attend the annual meeting, held during the Annual Communication, and to vote for members of the Board of Directors. The Foundation's Board of Directors is elected by the general membership of the Foundation. Board members are elected to represent the broad interest of the public rather than the personal or private interest of a limited number of donors.

Foundation funds are used for sponsoring educational scholarships, scholarships for the Masonic All-Star Marching Band, the Masonic Veterans Partnership program and the CHIP program.

The Foundation also maintains a library and museum at the Grand Lodge office location for the preservation of historical Masonic artifacts, literature and membership records. The Library and Museum is open to the public on an appointment basis and can be used for research into Masonry.

Limited Edition Robert Carrel Jordan 1884 Portrait Print Available for Purchase

One of the important Masonic artifacts owned by the Nebraska Masonic Foundation Library and Museum is a bespoke oil portrait of the first Grand Master of Masons of Nebraska, MWB Robert Carrel Jordan.

This portrait was gifted to the Grand Lodge of Nebraska in 1884 by an Omaha artist and has been in storage and poorly maintained for the last 138 years. Over that time, the frame had been broken, holes torn in the canvas and the colors had faded from time and dirt.

The Nebraska Masonic Foundation recently undertook a restoration project to recover this important piece of our Masonic past and the results are stunning! The portrait once again has the color, depth and presence that the artist intended.

The Nebraska Masonic Foundation is now offering a limited number of high-quality prints on acid-free archival paper stock suitable for framing of the restored painting to the Craft. Only 25 17 prints are available now.

Learn more & Order!

Masonic Library & Museum

Preserving Masonic History & Promoting Research

The purpose of the Nebraska Masonic Foundation Library & Museum is to be the repository for primary source material and artifacts relating to the history and practice of Freemasonry by making that material available to Freemasons and the general public for educational and research purposes. The Library and Museum is open to the public on an appointment basis and can be used for research into Masonry.

Ultimately, the task of preserving our Masonic heritage and treasures falls on the shoulders of each of us. It is for this reason we are urging our members, their Lodges, affiliate/appendant bodies and the public to help support the Nebraska Masonic Foundation Library & Museum with donations of Masonic books, documents, artifacts and funds.

Library & Museum

Masonic All-Star Marching Band

One week that will change your outlook on life

The Masonic All-Star Marching Band Camp is a one-week camp held in conjunction with the Nebraska Shrine Bowl on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Kearney. Nebraska Blue Lodges, Eastern Star Chapters, Shrine Clubs, Scottish Rite and York Rite Bodies, individuals and companies sponsor high school band students from all over the state to attend this first-rate marching band camp.

The camp was created in 1995 by then Grand Master Jerry L. Rittenburg to provide lodges and other Masonic bodies with a way to foster community involvement. The Masonic All-Star Marching Band Camp lives on as his legacy, providing excellent experiences for Nebraska youth, while assisting in the mission of the Shrine Bowl - "Strong Legs Run, that Weak Legs May Walk."

Masonic Band Resources

Masonic Veterans Partnership

To Honor and Support our Veterans

Change for the Troops was initiated in 2010 by Past Grand Master John T. Parsons. The program was originally created to purchase phone cards for each and every Nebraska serviceman and woman who deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan. In order to fund the purchase of these cards, the Grand Master asked members of each lodge, at the conclusion of their stated and special meetings, to throw their loose change in a jar. At the end of the month, each lodge was asked to remit that money to the Grand Lodge office.

As troops returned from the Middle East, the purpose of Change for the Troops evolved to support other programs to benefit our members of the military. In 2013, contributions to the program were donated to the Disabled American Veterans to purchase a Ford Flex for the purpose of transporting veterans throughout the state of Nebraska to and from the Veterans Administration hospitals.

In February 2014, the program was taken under the wing of the Nebraska Masonic Foundation and the name was changed to Masonic Veterans Partnership (MVP). As a program of the Nebraska Masonic Foundation, a 501c3, contributions to the fund are eligible for tax deduction. The Masonic Veterans Partnership will continue to search out programs to support for the benefit of returning military members and wounded warriors.

MVP Program

Support the Nebraska Masonic Foundation

The Nebraska Masonic Foundation is an established 501(c)(3) organization.

The Foundation survives totally on gifting. There are several ways a tax-exempt gift can be made to the Foundation: gifts of cash, online donations using the buttons below, appreciated properties and securities, life insurance policies, annuity trusts and unitrusts, real estate, charitable lead trusts, and bequests.

If you’d like to include the Nebraska Masonic Foundation in your estate planning, please call or contact the Grand Lodge office.

Nebraska Masonic Foundation

General Donations and
Band Scholarships

Library & Museum

Donation options for the
Library & Musuem

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Masonic Veterans Partnership

Donations for the MVP program