Membership growth is critical to our success, and I am happy to be able to report to you today that as of the end of the Fraternal Year on June 30, our membership reached a new all-time record of 1,763,182.

That is a net gain of 21,894 members. In the U.S., Texas led the way with a net gain of 2,479 members. Luzon, in the Philippines, had a net gain of over 5,000 members.

We now have a total of 13,485 councils, including 244 new councils chartered during the past year. In the U.S., Pennsylvania led the way with 14 new councils, followed closely by Ohio with 11 and by California, Texas and Florida with 10 each. Visayas, in the Philippines, established 25 new councils, Luzon had 23, and Mindanao had 14. Our newest jurisdiction, Poland, is growing steadily. We now have 12 councils and 645 members in Poland.