The chosen charity of the Widow’s Sons of Colorado is a fund at the Eastern Star Masonic Retirement Center called the Gap Fund. There is a little known need at retirement centers that accept Medi-Care, euphemistically called the gap.

When a retiree enters a retirement home, he must spend down his own money before he becomes eligible for Medi-care. Once his funds are depleted he may apply for Medi-Care. This process can take from 2 to 6 months and often the retiree runs out of funds before the Medi-Care kicks in. This is the Gap, the time between private funds and public funds or Medi-Care.

One would think that this is not a big deal, since Medi-Care should cover the gap once it is approved. Not necessarily. The bigger concern is that any service provider to the government, must offer those services to the government at their lowest price. In the case of a retirement center, if said retirement center allows the retiree to remain in their facility during the gap for no charge, their lowest price is - no charge.

When the Widow’s Sons became aware of this need that no one was addressing, we started the Widow’s Sons Run for the Gap as a way to raise funds to try to alleviate some of the problem. The Eastern Star Masonic Retirement Center established the Gap Fund with the proceeds of the first annual event. Since that time there have been several private donations to the fund as well as contributions from the Grand Lodge of Colorado and other Masonic entities.

The Widow’s Sons will continue to support this need in the form of soliciting donations and holding events to raise funds. Our most current iteration of the Run for the Gap is an invitational ride for motorcyclists and car enthusiasts held on the 4th Saturday of June.