Community Partnerships

California Masons are committed to making a profound difference in our communities. By partnering with respected organizations, the California Masonic Foundation provides meaningful support where there is a critical need. These partnerships touch the lives of thousands of Californians each year.

Masons4Mitts

Through Masons4Mitts, the California Masonic Foundation partners with popular baseball teams to help underserved youth.

Each baseball season, teams of lodges face off in friendly competition to purchase baseball mitts for children in need. Each mitt is embossed with the Masons of California logo.

Over the past seven years, the Masons of California have provided more than $500,000 in gifts to support under-resourced youth. Visit masons4mitts.org during baseball season to learn more.

Cornerstone Ceremonies

California Masons conduct a number of historic cornerstone ceremonies each year in communities statewide. Continuing a tradition that originated in the 1730s, officers of the Masons of California Grand Lodge lay a symbolic first stone of a civic building. Each ceremony incorporates the tools of operative masonry - the square, level, and plumb - along with the elements of corn and wheat (signifying plenty), wine (symbolizing joy), and oil (representing peace).

UCLA Freemasonry and Civil Society Program

In 2011, the California Masonic Foundation and its Institute for Masonic Studies entered into a collaborative partnership with the history department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to help establish its Freemasonry and Civil Society Program. The program offers ongoing courses investigating the history of Freemasonry within the context of civil society, and sponsors a post-doctoral fellow each year.

The Freemasonry and Civil Society Program develops annual international conferences to coincide with current research. Open to the public, these events seek to educate and inspire scholars of the craft. Learn more about the UCLA International Conference.