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California Freemason: I understand you helped organize a large food drive through Elk Grove № 173 this year. What can you tell us about it?
Darryl Watts: Yes, in October, we delivered more than 3,000 pounds of rice and beans to the Elk Grove Food Bank for our annual drive. This is our third time doing it. We just pass the hat at our stated meetings, and all our members dig deep. Our lodge is very focused on charity, and feeding people is a cause we all got behind. Some brothers would even offer to match whatever we collected at a dinner. If we did the calculations right, 3,000 pounds of food equals about 30,000 servings

CFM: That’s a lot of beans! You must really take that kind of community service work to heart.
DW: Along with fellowship and bringing new members in, the charity work we’re doing in lodge is what drives me personally. Since we moved into our new building last December, we’ve sponsored a couple of walkathon fundraisers—for one, we partnered with our local Eastern Star chapter. We also just donated 175 backpacks filled with supplies to Herman Leimbach Elementary School. And for the past six years, we’ve been sponsoring a program that supplies Christmas gifts to foster children in Sacramento County. And now, we’re in talks to host blood drives at the lodge.

CFM: How did you first get involved with Masonry?
DW:My daughter was a Shriners patient in Sacramento, and I was just blown away by the generosity of the Shrine Hospital and how they didn’t ask for a dime for all the times they saw her. That’s what hooked me. Soon after, I submitted my application to Provident Three Pillars № 609.

CFM: Do you have any big plans for the coming year?
DW: Our lodge has a full and eager officer line next year, so I’m looking forward to all the new ideas and plans they’ll bring to the table. Our incoming master is going to carry on the beans and rice drive as a tradition for our lodge. For me, once I’m out of the east, I plan to work with the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce and see what other charity works we can get involved in. That’s what we’re about: focusing on camaraderie and charity.