Thursday, May 10, 2007

Two sides of the Shrine

The Masonic blog On The Level posted an article today listing the many good deeds Shrine hospitals do for children with orthopedic, burn care, spinal cord and cleft palate medical needs. The hospitals do an excellent job of caring for kids with extraordinary needs.

Shrine hospitals have a 2007 budget of $721 million, and over its 85-year history have spent approximately $8.2 billion operating the hospitals, and another $1.76 billion on construction and renovation.

Apparently all is not peaches and cream in Shrine-dom, though.

Investigative reporter Sandy Frost recently published the 15th [ ! ] in a series on mismanagement of finances by Shrine organizations across the country.

Some highlowlights from her most recent article:
  • $1.2 million missing from one bingo game’s proceeds.
  • $160,000 spent to settle multiple sexual harassment lawsuits.
  • Over $5,000 in credit card fraud committed by a past Potentate.
  • Over 30 temples reporting crime and fraud, with one missing over $300,000.
  • Only 16% of crime and fraud cases prosecuted.
  • $1,334,000 overspent by the Imperial Council, to be covered by each member at a rate of over $3,000 per capita.
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2 comments:

  1. Why am I experiencing a sense od deja vu? Oh yeah, somewhere in my lifetime I think I have read this article.Maybe too many times now..?

    ReplyDelete
  2. You must be a time traveler. I've never written that article before yesterday.

    Sandy Frost has written 14 previous articles about Shrine financial irregularities.

    — W.S.

    ReplyDelete

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