The president of the Manila City hall Masons,

Fiscal Gil Mendoza, checks on the blood donors during the First Manila City hall Masons Blood donation on Saturday. Organizers of the project, launched to respond to urgent need for blood amid mobility restrictions posed by the pandemic, made sure that proper health protocols were observed at the Palma hall of Universidad ng Manila.

CHARITY is deeply ingrained in Masonic culture— together with faith and hope. However, charity is the greatest of these three fundamental principles of the Craft.

It was in this spirit that over the weekend, the First Manila City Hall Masons Blood Donation Project was launched with the theme “Share Life, Give Blood.”

The event was organized by the Manila City Hall Masons headed by its president, Fiscal Gil Mendoza of Manila City Prosecutor Office. The brotherhood made sure that the blood donation be held before the end of Hearts’ Month, which is February.

The group pushed through with the project despite challenges posed by the mobility restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic and lingering fears of people about being infected. But, organizers said, the project had to be launched because it has come to their attention that some people are dying because there is a lack of blood supply.

“Organizing this project is difficult because of the pandemic and there are lots of prohibitions, but we made sure that we follow the guidelines of the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases,” Fiscal Mendoza said. He acknowledged the help of St. Lukes BGC medical staff who carefully screened blood donors and collected the blood; other organizations also joined hands with the Manila City Hall Masons to ensure a successful launch.

“Since this was organized by the members of Manila City Hall Masons, we made sure that the beneficiaries are people of Manila. The blood collected will be turned over to Ospital ng Maynila with which we have a Memorandum of Agreement.”

The project’s goal is to collect at least 500 blood bags from different donors, including 75 uniformed personnel of Manila Police District and kind-hearted city residents.

In order to sustain the project, Mendoza said they plan to repeat it every quarter. With that, he also added that their MOA with Ospital ng Maynila includes anyone who is willing and physically qualified to donate blood. They may do so every Friday just by going to the said hospital.

Meanwhile, Atty. Marlon Castor summed up the views of their brothers in mounting the blood donation: “When its members perform a labor of Charity, Masonry creates better versions of men and exemplifies the three tenets of Freemasonry which are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.”