It seems a perfect match – the holiday season that is a season of gift-giving, and the Moose, a fraternal organization set on the ideals of doing things to make the world a better place to live.
And in Batavia resident Brad Duermit those two concepts have taken a form well past his 16 years of age.
Duermit, the son of Moose member Robert Duermit and Julie Duermit, has shown he already understands both the holiday spirit as well as the fraternal drive that powers the Moose.
Aware that the Batavia Lodge organizes an annual party Dec. 24 for the children at Mooseheart Child City & School who don't get to leave campus to visit relatives for the holiday — and aware that this party could use a funding boost — young Duermit took action.
 He sent letters to every Moose Lodge for which he could find an address, asking them for $5 to help fund the party.
Some $5,700 later, the checks keep rolling in.
 “I know that, for college, they look for volunteer hours in addition to sports and good grades,” Brad Duermit said. “My dad told me about the Christmas party. I thought it would be a good idea to help the kids for Christmas.”
This year’s party by the Batavia Lodge will be the 20th annual event they have coordinated. Administrator Kelly Schacherbauer said he was aware Duermit had options for how he wanted to go about his community service project.
“I’m glad he chose us,” Schacherbauer said. “This will help make the party and Christmas for the Mooseheart kids a nicer one.”
Brad Duermit said he mailed just over 1,000 letters, and that the preparation of those envelopes took some time.
“It’s rewarding when we open the envelopes and find big numbers of money,” he said. “I was expecting some back with checks and hoping for all of them, but when some came back undeliverable, I was a little worried.”
Even before the checks started arriving, Robert Duermit said he knew the exercise in community service had been beneficial to his son. “I think this is showing him you can accomplish several things with one goal,” Robert Duermit said. “Most of all, he’s volunteering and feeling good about what he’s doing. I think that’s a lesson in life that he’s going to cherish.”
The amounts received have been generous. Many Lodges responded to Duermit’s request by writing the requested $5 check. Others have written checks for $10. Some arrived with a check for $25, $50 or even $100 inside. DeKalb, Ill. Lodge 586 for a generous check for $200 – and the totals started to mount.  Then, an envelope arrived from Little Rock, Ark., with a note from North Little Rock Lodge 942.
Inside was a check for $2,500!
“I didn’t think it was real at first, so I had to check the writing of the number,” Brad Duermit said. “And then I read the letter they sent. And – wow – we were all kind of speechless.”
The Duermits live no more than a long stone’s throw from Mooseheart, near Batavia's southern border that is also very near to the Batavia Lodge.
“Mooseheart’s right down the street,” Brad Duermit said. “I didn’t understand what it was at first. But now I know and I’m glad I can help in some way.”