The R.A. Driesbach, Sr., Lodge No. 77 of the Knights of Pythias last week donated several boxes of non-perishable foods to the county Food Pantry.
“They gave a lot of food, it was a very nice donation,” said Jerry Stokoe, director of the Food Pantry.
The Knights of Pythias is an international fraternity first organized in Washington, D.C. in 1864.
The first African-American Lodge was organized in 1880 in Vicksburg, Miss.
Today, the role the Knights of Pythias plays in the community is far different than when the order began. That role has extended far beyond taking care of widows and orphans and burying the dead, to become much more of a catalyst in creating strong communities through a wide range of social and service activities.
Pythianism represents a human ideal build upon Americanism, Patriotism and the Brotherhood of man.
Friendship, charity and benevolence are the cardinal principles of the Pythian Lodge, but more than this, it teaches the Fatherhood of God, love of country, obedience to law, purity of the home, obligations of clean citizenship and man’s duty to man.
The donation of food for the Food Pantry is part of that mission, just as with the recent donation of 30 used bicycles and more than $100 to Bikes for Boys and Girls of Gulf County.