Members of Jordan Lodge 192, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, have an ongoing project to collect and deliver items to the food bank at Jordan Lutheran Church, Orefield.

Men bring the items along to their meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, and member Ted Rothrock takes the food to the church where it is picked up by people in need.

Through the years, the Odd Fellows have raised funds to support cancer and arthritis organizations, the Wills Eye Hospital, the local food bank, the Allentown Rescue Mission, a children's camp, scholarships and trips for young people to the United Nations.

Two years ago, the group raised $8,000 for charitable causes in one day at its Octoberfest.

"We raise a lot of money and take care of people who need it," Rothrock said.

He reports the lodge began in England as an organization dedicated to caring for widows and orphans.

The movement crossed the Atlantic to the United States with the first Odd Fellows lodge established in Baltimore, Md., in 1819.

With a basis in the Bible, principles of the Lodge are love, friendship and truth.

Odd Fellows are noted for taking care of their fellow man in old age.

Lodges flourished in America in the mid 19th century and were the first organization credited with bringing the North and South together in a joint ceremony after the Civil War.

Jordan Lodge, organized by a group of 21 men from the Schnecksville area, received its charter in 1888.

The first meeting hall was in what was once the general store in Schnecksville, a building along Route 309, across from Game Preserve Road.

Members planned to build their own separate structure for a lodge but realized the community needed a place for the volunteer fire company.

Rothrock said the lodge constructed the fire company headquarters, drafted an agreement to rent the third floor for meetings and pay a certain amount to the fire company each year.

The building, which now houses Tom Hall Auction Center, became available to the lodge in 1924.

When the present fire company was planned and constructed in 1988, the building was equipped with a lodge hall used for meetings and activities today.

Lady Lillie Best Rebekah Lodge 222 is affiliated with the Odd Fellows group and shares similar principles and projects.

The women meet the first and third Wednedays of each month.

The lodge groups invite anyone age 18 and older to seek information on joining either the men's or women's organizations.

Call Rothrock at 610-767-6586, Stan Wieand at 610-799-3613 or Mervin Peters at 610-767-8394 to learn more about Odd Fellows membership.

For information on the Rebekahs, call Charlotte Fritz at 610-261-9488.