Charitable Works of the Order of the Eastern Star

Our Projects in this jurisdiction are as follows:

Cancer Project - The specified objective in British Columbia and Yukon.
The Cancer Project is to make and provide Cancer Dressings, FREE OF CHARGE, for cancer patients throughout the Province.
Cancer Research (which is actually the purchase of equipment for all cancer hospitals)

Grace Shane Bursary.
Shane Bursary, is given to doctors who go abroad to learn new treatments, procedures, techniques, and prostheses, and return to share their new knowledge to the cancer clinics here.

E.S.T.A.R.L. Award.
These awards are made to assist students who are permanent residents of British Columbia or Yukon and attending or plan to attend an Accredited School of Theology in Canada on a full time or part time basis.

Elizabeth Bentley Order of the Eastern Star Bursary.
Bursaries are available for students who are relatives of our members and have completed at least two years towards an undergraduate degree.

Worthy Grand Matron’s Special Project - Chosen each annual term.
Each year, the W.G.M. chooses an item or items as her Special Project. 

In 2007-2008 it was an Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Quality Assurance Phantom located at the newly opened Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre. This Quality Assurance Phantom is a model simulating human body, which contributes greatly to the planning and delivery of radiation therapy.

For the 2008-2009 it was a Quality Dosimetry Plus System for the Cancer Centre in Kelowna. A dosimeter monitors the amount and intensity of the radiation beam so that the patient receives the correct amount of radiation at the tumour while decreasing the dose to the surrounding organs, thus improving the likelihood of a cure while reducing side effects. 

For 2009-2010, the WGM Special Project was chosen to relieve women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The BC Cancer Agency – Centre for the Southern Interior in Kelowna has identified that delays between diagnosis and surgery can be more than 11 weeks; and wait times to receive therapeutic treatment can be a further six weeks.

The existing system is seen by patients as fragmented and therefore difficult to navigate. Hence, the Rapid Breast Diagnosis Centre came into being. 

This is a pilot two year project and will be partially funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, but additional funds are needed to support the space allocation, the acquisition of computers and phones with the establishment of a charting and reporting system back to family physicians and surgeons. 

Under the guidance of a medical director, the R.B.D.C. staff would accept referrals from family physicians in Kelowna and would coordinate bookings for further diagnostic tests, surgical procedures and further therapeutic treatments at the B.C.C.A.-C.S.I. Please be generous with donations for this very necessary project.  

Rob Morris Society Vivien Marshall Memorial Bursary – Music.
This award is given to deserving students who are pursuing a career in music and who are:
Eastern Star members of the jurisdiction of British Columbia and Yukon who are in good standing in the Order, or the wife, husband, child, step-child, grandchild, sister, brother, niece or nephew of a member in good standing in an Eastern Star chapter in British Columbia and Yukon, or member’s, or former members, of Bethels of the International Order of Job's Daughters, or member’s, or former members, of Chapters of the Order of DeMolay in British Columbia and Yukon

Foster Secretary Association's Cancelled Stamp Project.
The Foster Secretary Association (consisting primarily of Chapter secretaries) of British Columbia & Yukon, Order of the Eastern Star, has a Postage Stamp Project. Years ago, chapter secretaries began saving cancelled stamps, and now many members of the Order of the Eastern Star in this jurisdiction collect used POSTAGE STAMPS for the Foster Secretary Association to raise funds for the Cancer Fund. 

Erma Boyce Library Fund for Knowledge.
Is meant for education - books, TV's, VCR's, and tapes in the patients' rooms to show what procedures are necessary for treatment.

Each year, the Order of the Eastern Star donates thousands of dollars to these established projects.

In addition to the above, our chapters are active in their respective communities as well, by supporting local community activities.

Also, in British Columbia and Yukon, we have the O.E.S. Auxiliary - a group which maintains and loans Medical Equipment to Members of the Order of the Eastern Star and their relatives.
Equipment such as wheel chairs and other physical aid equipment is stored in depots located in Victoria, Duncan, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Kelowna, and Prince George.