The Little Sisters of the Poor at St. Martin’s Home, a nursing home for low-income seniors just outside of Baltimore, Md., had a wish list. They needed cleaning supplies, food and other necessities to take care of the more than 90 residents on site.
However, due to due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has plagued nursing homes throughout the United States, they had no way to get them.
They reached out to the Knights of Columbus for help. And Knights responded filling up multiple cars, and doing several supply runs for St. Martin’s Home. They also purchased a thousand masks for the nursing home staffers.
“My wife and I went to six stores and purchased anything that we could find on their list,” Maryland State Deputy Dale Trott said. “We are making sure that whatever they need, as long as we can find it, we’ll get it to them.”
The Knights have made three supply drop-offs so far. State Deputy Trott and Terry Waters, community activities director for the Maryland Knights of Columbus, are also reaching out to other councils for financial assistance.
The supply drops are part of the Knights of Columbus’ program “Leave No Neighbor Behind,” an initiative created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the program’s guidelines, Knights throughout the U.S. and Canada are providing charitable and spiritual outreach to their communities specific to the special circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several councils have also reached out to the Little Sisters of the Poor in their areas, such as Huntsville Council 4080 in Huntsville, Ala. — which donated a sewing machine and fabric for mask-making — and the New York state council, which donated cleaning supplies to a branch in Queens.
“Leave No Neighbor Behind is a beautiful initiative,” State Deputy Trott said. “When they say leave no neighbor behind, they mean everyone and that’s the way most of our councils are looking at this. And they’re not just reaching out to knights and their families, they’re reaching out to their community and using any means that they possibly can to help their neighbors.”
“It has become a great tool to remind us that our first principle is charity,” he added.
WATCH A VIDEO OF THE KNIGHTS AND THE LITTLE SISTERS HERE.
Share your story of how your council is helping strengthen people’s faith and offering support during this time. Email knightline@kofc.org.
Originally published in a special bi-weekly edition of Knightline, a resource for K of C leaders and members. To access Knightline’s monthly archives, click here.