LEWISTON – Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal financial services organization with offices in Lewiston and Auburn, has designated up to $416,600 to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

“As a fraternal organization, the concept of people helping people is what Modern Woodmen is all about,” said Lewiston Modern Woodmen District Manager Dick Courtemanche.

Modern Woodmen has thousands of members and many agents in the Gulf area. To aid in recovery efforts, the organization has donated $56,600, including $30,000 distributed immediately through its agencies in affected states, used to purchase supplies for victims in their areas.

Another $305,000 has been designated to cover premiums for affected members who use the organization’s Fraternal Aid Fund to keep their Modern Woodmen life insurance coverage in place during this time of hardship.

Modern Woodmen of America Youth Service Clubs across the country have collected thousands of coloring books, crayons and storybooks for kids relocated by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. The items were shipped to Modern Woodmen’s agency office in Alexandria, La., where Modern Woodmen representatives and members are distributing the items to displaced children throughout the area.

Modern Woodmen youth clubs and camps (member chapters) will also conduct special fund-raisers and volunteer projects for hurricane victims, adding a potential of $55,000 more for the cause, for a total of up to $416,600 designated to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

As a whole, Modern Woodmen and other fraternal organizations across the nation have raised more than $15 million in aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

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