The National Masonic Foundation for Children (NMFC) is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, charitable organization established in 1986 by the North American Conference of Grand Masters.  This organization was founded in response to the threat that substance abuse and addiction pose to our children, and the NMFC seeks to confront these problems by fostering prevention.   

The mission of NMFC is to establish the Masonic Model Student Assistance Program (MMSAP) in schools, which will result in helping youth lead productive, useful, and healthy lives. NMFC seeks to establish MMSAP in all 50 states, and Canada. Prevention stops use and abuse before it starts.  It interrupts the addictive cycle which may have gone on for generations in a family.  Another important plus – prevention programs can be implemented for a fraction of the cost of treatment, enforcement or even publicity programs.  Currently, MMSAP is being sponsored by Grand Lodges in 21 states.

NMFC builds on Freemasonry’s centuries-old tradition of helping the most vulnerable in our society, including the young. Today, more than ever, children need help in becoming responsible adults as they face countless challenges:  broken homes, patterns of substance abuse in families, and a complex world with many traditional nurturing institutions shaken. Freemasons fully recognize that our children are our future. We cannot neglect the needs of today’s children if we expect them to grow up to be happy, healthy, productive stewards of our future.

Their flagship program is a substance abuse prevention program, called the Masonic Model Student Assistance Program.  The hallmark of MMSAP is early and effective intervention by educators with students demonstrating patterns of behavior which could threaten their success at school and be indicators of problems associated with substance abuse. They serve the youth by training “Core Teams” within schools to identify children at risk of getting into destructive behaviors – before they begin, or at an early stage. Every year addiction claims younger victims. The tragedies associated with addiction include suicide, violence, teen pregnancy, physical and sexual child abuse, homicide, depression, auto accidents, mental and physical illness. Training concentrates heavily on how to intervene in the addictive cycle once the identification occurs.  By successful early prevention, a plethora of illness, accident, and disease stemming from such chemical abuse is deterred.  They have trained more than 36,000 educators nationwide, with hundreds of thousands of children having been referred to Core Teams for help. In the end, they help teachers to teach and children to learn so that our youth may lead productive, useful, and healthy lives.  

To learn more about the National Masonic Foundation for Children and the invaluable work they do, please look them up at www.masonicmodel.org