Scoring for Charity

On the Monday prior to Super Bowl Sunday, California Knights of Columbus and representatives from the Supreme Council joined Football Hall of Famers Anthony Muñoz (Cincinnati Bengals) and Dave Casper (Oakland Raiders), Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio and his wife Linda, and several current NFL players and coaches to distribute coats to the students at an inner-city Catholic grammar school in San Francisco.

More than 270 students at Our Lady of the Visitation school received new coats as part of the event sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Athletes for Christ, the Raiders Foundation, the Jack and Linda Del Rio Foundation and the Muñoz Foundation. Among the Knights of Columbus attending the event were members of Church of the Visitation Council 12683, Supreme Advocate John Marrella, California Supreme Director Jim Scroggin, California State Deputy Ed Huestis and Past State Deputy Ray Warriner.

"It's a great blessing for young people to see these outstanding professional athletes and coaches, who have competed successfully in the NFL, and who are not ashamed to say that the most important thing in their life is their faith in Jesus Christ. By sponsoring this event, the Knights of Columbus can give the students and teachers at this school a clear picture of faith in action, as these athletes and coaches show what it really means to be a Christian man," said Supreme Advocate Marrella.

Helping to distribute coats to the students were Oakland Raiders coaches Bill Musgrave, Ken Norton, Jr., Todd Downing, Nick Holz, Rob Moore, Sal Sunseri, Jake Peetz and Rod Woodson, along with Raiders players Austin Howard, Taiwan Jones, Andre Holmes, George Atkinson III and Giorgio Tavecchio.

This winter, the Knights of Columbus distributed 78,576 coats in 1,600 communities throughout the U.S. and Canada, including events at military bases, in Native American communities, at inner-city neighborhoods and through partnerships with local police departments. Since the start of the program in 2009 more than 310,000 coats have been distributed in 49 states and all 10 Canadian provinces.