I know of a young chap serving in the Royal Air Force who was a Freemason through family connection. He was a Senior Aircraftsman, Painter & Doper. Upon leaving the RAF he secured a job in our company as Foreman, Aircraft Finishing - a grade that would equate to Chief Technician in the service. The fact that our Chief Maintenance Engineer at the time (and several more of the management) were members of the local lodge would have had nothing to do with that appointment, of course.
He was naturally, well out of his depth and despite his weekly nights out in tuxedo, had to be terminated - but not until the end of his contract.
As to charity and looking after their members, a friend of mine retired from Borneo, returned to UK and bought a small business that included a sub-post office in Romsey, Hampshire. Depite his being of the third degree the local lodge, being a bit "Hoi Poloi" with Earl Mountbatten of Burma as a local, didn't reply to any of his letters infoming them of his arrival in their patch. Unfortunately his wife died a few months later, he went into depression and was unable to keep the business running. He went bankrupt. No help from the brotherhood for him, though he regularly gave local brothers the distress signals when they drew their pensions from his sub-post office. A charity? A pretty strange one from my point of view. The only people who DID help him get out of his depression, get his act together and get going again was the
Royal Air Force Association.