The Knights of Columbus set new records for charitable giving and volunteer hours in 2004.

The results of the Order's Survey of Fraternal Activity for the year ended Dec. 31, 2004, show that total contributions to charity at all levels climbed to $135,753,039, exceeding the previous year's total by more than $5 million.

The figure includes $26,388,095 donated by the Supreme Council, $11,611,596 given by state councils, and $97,753,348 in charitable donations from local councils, Fourth Degree assemblies and squire circles.

The survey also shows that the estimated number of volunteer hours by Knights for charitable causes grew to more than 63 million hours. In addition, members contributed another 9.3 million hours to fraternal service activity. There were 407,746 Knights of Columbus blood donors during the year, and Knights made more than 6 million visits to the sick and bereaved.

Cumulative figures show that over the past decade, the Knights of Columbus has donated $1.174 billion to charity, and provided in excess of 560 million hours of volunteer effort in support of charitable causes.

Knights of Columbus in Ontario led the way in charitable giving, with $7,655,212, followed by California ($6,572,879), Quebec ($5,752,883), Illinois ($5,595,344), Florida (5,555,056), Texas ($5,513,976), and Michigan ($5,268,878).

British Columbia Knights gave the most money to charity per capita, averaging $262.40 for each member. Other leaders in per capita giving included Alberta ($168.85), Virginia ($150.20), Ontario ($136.29), and Newfoundland ($132.84).