The Masonic Medical Fund of Wisconsin, continues to take pride in their commitment through the Matching Grants Program to Project A.D.A.M.---the effort to place an automatic defibrillator in every high school.
The purpose of Project A.D.A.M. is to foster rapid life-saving response when high school athletes are stricken suddenly by rare, previously unidentified heart conditions.
Project A.D.A.M. was spearheaded largely by the vision of Homestead High School senior David Ellis, a student who is determined to prevent further tragedies. David helped bring the idea of placing a friendly defibrillator in every Wisconsin high school to public attention by raising money for a defibrillator at Homestead, following the death of his friend Adam Lemel. Adam, was a Whitefish Bay High School student athlete who collapsed and died during a basketball game. Project A.D.A.M. is named for him.
Project A.D.A.M. (Automatic Defibrillators in Adam’s Memory) was officially launched on Dec. 1 by Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in partnership with the Wisconsin chapter of the American Heart Association and the Paramedic Training Center of Milwaukee County. The Masonic Medical Fund of Wisconsin is proud to have joined this vital campaign, which will provide technical support and training, along with cash grants to defray the start-up costs of placing a defibrillator in every high school. Please click here to view a list of Wisconsin High Schools that have received defibrillators through our program.
Through local Masonic Lodges, over 170 Wisconsin high schools statewide have received matching grants of up to $2,000, to purchase defibrillators for their students. For more information on how you can apply for Matching Grants for Project ADAM, through the Medical Fund, please click here.
Some recent good news:
- "Being able to assist in placing defibrillators in high schools has been such a positive and rewarding experience for the Foundation, the Board of Directors will do whatever it can to support the project in the future," says Masonic Foundation Board President, Norm Christensen.
- According to Loreen Utech, Project A.D.A.M. program coordinator at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, the Masonic Fraternity in Wisconsin has provided funding for approximately three-quarters of the defibrillators placed in Wisconsin high schools to date. For more information on Children's Hospital's involvement with Project ADAM, please e-mail Loreen.
- The placement of defibrillators by Masonic Lodges has allowed many high schools to institute expansive training programs, which enable their faculty and student population to be ready to operate the units at a moment's notice. The Pewaukee school district, received two defibrillators from Pewaukee Lodge #246 and the Medical Foundation, has incorporated defibrillator training as part of the curriculum for all tenth graders. Between 150 and 175 students have learned to operate two defibrillators located on the high school campus. Karen Smith, Nursing Coordinator for the district says, "We are able to respond to an incident in 10 seconds, and can get the defibrillator going in one minute."
- After receiving defibrillators in West Allis Central and Nathan Hale high schools, through donations from Excelsior Lodge #175, and the Medical Fund, the community continued to raise enough funds to place defibrillators in all of the district's 19 schools, and its recreational center.
- When Wilmot Lodge #241 helped Wilmot Union High School to obtain a matching grant to purchase a defibrillator, it was only the beginning. A few months later the Key Club at the high school was helping the Lodge to raise funds to purchase Mustang suits for the Wilmot Fire Department.
- A life saved in Chippewa Falls! A defibrillator that the Masonic Medical Fund and Chippewa Falls Lodge #176 helped to fund was used when Coach Dan Sipple of Eau Claire North High School suffered a heart attack in January 2004.
For more information on applying for a grant from the Masonic Medical Fund of Wisconsin, please contact the Development Office at: 1-800-242-2307. You can also e-mail us.