Community of Involvement

The history of the Knights of Columbus's involvement in community life is a record of outstanding benevolent achievement. Knights volunteer in a variety of charitable enterprises to serve the people and programs of their communities.

Volunteerism informed by Christian concern is the hallmark of the Knights of Columbus. It results in outstanding contributions of time and talent to the Catholic Church, our communities, families, young people and brother Knights.

Much of the success of the Order's volunteer record can be attributed to the fact that the Supreme Council does not mandate participation in any volunteer initiative. Fraternal and charitable programs arise at the grassroots level to meet the local needs.

As the Order has grown, its benevolence has increased. The Order continues to break all of its previous records for charitable contributions and volunteer service.

The results of the Order’s annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for the year ending Dec. 31, 2006, show that total contributions to charity at all levels reached $143,816,004 – exceeding the previous year’s total by more than $4 million.

The figure includes $35,133,393 donated by the Supreme Council, and $108,682,611 in charitable donations by state and local councils, Fourth Degree assemblies and Squire circles.

In the past decade, Knights raised and donated nearly $1.25 billion to numerous charitable causes and volunteered nearly 400 million hours of service.