For children growing up in an unstable environment, finding a secure home with love, support and guidance is life-changing. Since 1913, Pennsylvania Freemasons have provided a safe haven and changed the lives of more than 2,100 children at the Masonic Children’s Home in Elizabethtown.
After establishing what is now the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown in 1910, Pennsylvania Freemasons became aware of another need in the community. They felt an unavoidable duty to provide for the maintenance, development and education of orphaned children. The board of directors’ original vision was to provide for children and their widowed parent. On Nov. 12, 1913, Edith H. De Vore, widow of Bro. William H. De Vore, Bellevue Lodge No. 530, now Avalon Lodge No. 657, Pittsburgh, and her four children moved to the Masonic Homes. Today, the children’s home cares for up to 40 school-age children.
2013 was filled with celebration and appreciation for everyone who has been a part of the Masonic Children’s Home over the last century. To see pictures from the centennial events, like us on Facebook.