Robert Hamm

In our small state, local Masonic Lodges represent a force for good in the community. We are neither politically nor religiously affiliated, yet we provide the leavening which helps our local areas to thrive. My Lodge in Milford, NH annually provides $12,000 in scholarships to help deserving students attain either technical or academic education beyond high school . We also annually contribute approximately $10,000 to various local charities such as Milford Share, Bridges, DARE etc. We open our building , at no charge, to the American Red Cross for local blood drives. We host a Boy Scout Troop every Thursday evening. In Tax season, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we open our building to AARP to assist residents with tax preparation. For Milford's annual Pumpkin Festival we host and set up the Haunted trail and provide security to assist our police in watching over the vendor's booths and thousands of pumpkins. Monthly we offer a charity benefit breakfast , the proceeds of which are donated to local charities such as the DARE program, Milford SHARE, Milford Library, Milford Bridges and the Upreach Riding Center as well as supporting local church programs and Habitat for Humanity. Our Bikes for Books program partners with local schools and libraries to provide bikes and helmets as incentives for locally designed reading programs for grade school children. As president of our building association, I can testify that it takes substantial capital to continue to make our building available to nationally recognized organizations that do good. I'm afraid that if we are denied our tax exemption, we will not be able to continue our good works and will have to close. I think that closing our Lodge would shut down an existing force for good in our greater community and would make the lives of the elderly, the food challenged, those needing blood, the abused, the handicapped and those who benefit in a small way from our efforts, that much more difficult.. The New Hampshire way is for each of us to reach out and quietly do the good that we can in our own communities and for the benefit of our own People. New Hampshire Masonry does that very thing and support of HR 1324 will help New Hampshire Masonic Lodges continue a effort that goes back to before the American Revolution.