Charity

	Canadian Fourth Degree Knights escort the New Ark of the Covenant during preparation for the International Eucharistic Congress held in July in Quebec City. (The Atlantic Catholic)

In an organization where the first principle is charity, the Knights of Canada truly lead the way. Once again this year, the Knights of Quebec took top honors for raising the most money for charity, a record $10,152,000. That is a staggering $2.3 million more than the record they set last year.

Ontario was the second largest fundraiser for charity, with just short of $8 million. Other top fundraising efforts came from Texas, with more than $6 million, Illinois with $5.8 million, Michigan with $5.3 million, California with $4.9 million and Florida with $4.5 million.

Once again, British Columbia surpassed every other jurisdiction in the order by raising $219.30 per member. In fact, seven of the eleven jurisdictions which raised more than $100 per member for charity last year are Canadian: British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. The other four are from the United States: Alaska, Arizona, North Carolina and Virginia. Over the past decade, Knights have donated a grand total of more than 612 million volunteer hours to charitable causes. And the value of that volunteer time, using Independent Sector estimates, is over $10.4 billion. There can be no more dramatic evidence of the strong personal commitment of Knights and their families to living out the biblical injunction to love one’s neighbor than this extraordinary record of giving of ourselves to help others in need.

We have been conducting blood drives, providing what the Red Cross calls “the gift of life,” since we conducted the first national drive in the 1930s. Last year, Knights of Columbus blood drives brought donations from more than 393,000 donors. Knights of Columbus are also Knights of Compassion and Caring, and we made a total of more than 5.6 million visits to the sick and bereaved during 2007.

Tomorrow, you’ll meet this year’s program award winners and our family of the year – people whose extraordinary accomplishments over the past year merit special recognition. But today, let’s look for a moment at a random sample of the hundreds of thousands of Knights whose everyday charitable work is typical of Knights of Columbus everywhere. Mike Renda of Council 5164 in Birmingham, Alabama is the director of the annual Knights of Columbus Run, which this year had more than 250 runners and included a special 5K Run for younger children. They raised almost $9,000 for people with intellectual disabilities.

Members of Council 3078 in Lincoln Park, Michigan, began building wheelchair ramps for people with physical disabilities who needed them back in 1990, including this project, which was one of 35 constructed last year. They’ve built a total of 360 ramps over the past 18 years.

	Poor children in the Philippines benefited from a nutrition program sponsored by St. John Nepomucene Council in Bacolod City, Visayas.

When severe flooding hit the Mexican state of Tabasco late last year, Knights in Mexico South established a food distribution center, and members of Council 13910 took supplies to one hard-hit area by boat.

We’ve always had a strong relationship with the Boy Scouts. Recently, members of Council 5398 presented Troop 223 with $500 to support their work on the troop’s 65th anniversary. In the Philippines, Knights tackle problems associated with widespread poverty with energy and dedication. Council 12075 is one of many with feeding programs for poor children and their families. Here in Quebec, Council 7701 recently sponsored a trip to Six Flags for 38 underprivileged children, covering the cost of transportation, food and admission.

These are just a few of the stories behind the numbers. A number like 68 million hours is hard to grasp without knowing the people who donate them. And in so many ways, they are really what our Order is all about.

In addition to individual, one-at-a-time projects of the sort we’ve just seen, our work with partners like Special Olympics, the Wheelchair Foundation and Habitat for Humanity has become a significant part of our charitable work.

Knights of Columbus were there to help at the very first Special Olympics competition at Soldier Field in Chicago back in July of 1968, and our involvement has grown throughout the past four decades. Over the years, local and state councils have forged close relationships with Special Olympics. While we have provided substantial financial contributions, our greatest asset is providing volunteers who work with the athletes, help plan and conduct the local and state games, and other programs as well. In fact, the single most active category of volunteer involvement among Knights of Columbus is the work we do to benefit people with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Our relationship with Habitat for Humanity has grown dramatically in the last few years, and this year Knights reported donating more than 1.2 million hours of volunteer service at Habitat projects in the United States, Canada and the Philippines. Recently, Connecticut Knights, including many from the Supreme Council headquarters staff, were honored with the “Master Builder award” from the New Haven Habitat organization for our work in building a home for Wilfredo and Maria Ortiz and their children.

	Mexico South members of Council 13910 bring food and water by boat to flood victims in the state of Tabasco.

Our relationship with the Wheelchair Foundation has also been growing rapidly in recent years. California Knights continue to provide wheelchairs for the needy of Mexico. And Knights in British Columbia are raising funds to send 220 wheelchairs to disabled people in Afghanistan.

In 1992, the Order launched the Christopher Fund, a unique partnership between state councils and the Supreme Council.  The Christopher Fund is an absolutely unbeatable way to maximize our charitable giving.  Not only does money deposited in the fund earn an excellent return, but the Supreme Council matches the earnings dollar for dollar on the first five dollars per member, and that is a deal that simply can't be found anywhere else.  Earnings from the fund benefit charities of each state council.  Today, the size of the Christopher Fund has grown to a total of $17.4 million and since its establishment, it has produced nearly $10 million in charitable donations.

And finally, I want to give you a quick update on United in Charity, the charitable endowment that we launched four years ago. During 2007, we received more than $1.3 million in donations, and over $800,000 in bequests. Over time, I believe that this will become a major factor in our ability to support a wide variety of charitable causes. I encourage you to respond generously and encourage your fellow Knights to do the same.

Charity Highlights