Boxing Joy to the World

Scores of K of C councils prepare Christmas care packages for children in need across the globe

By Megan Stibley

Dec. 23, 2025

Members of St. Philip the Apostle Council 17028 pack some of the 250 Boxes of Joy collected from council members and parishioners of St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Lancaster, Pa., Nov. 7. (Photo by Michael Miville) — Catholic author Russell Shaw, pictured in a 1997 photo, died Jan. 6, 2026, at age 90. (OSV News photo/Nancy Wiechec)

Santa has extra helpers this Christmas season — thanks to more than 130 councils across the United States that have partnered with the nonprofit Cross Catholic Outreach. For nearly a decade, Knights have transformed parish halls into holiday workshops where they prepare Boxes of Joy for children around the world.

Cross Catholic Outreach — a ministry providing food, shelter and more to those in need throughout the world — launched the Box of Joy program in 2014. Volunteers fill boxes with toys, clothing, school supplies and a rosary, which the organization distributes to children in eight developing countries, including Haiti, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Since the start of the program, more than 780,000 Christmas boxes have been delivered.

“In many cases, this is the only thing these children are going to get for Christmas,” said Ashley Stinnett, deputy grand knight of Bishop Joseph H. Hodges Council 9483 in Hurricane, West Virginia, who serves as Cross Catholic Outreach’s K of C liaison. “They’re getting the fun things, but they’re also getting the meaningful impact of the Gospel.”

The Knights of Columbus began partnering with Cross Catholic Outreach in 2017, three years after the Florida-based nonprofit launched the Box of Joy initiative, and has expanded the program by bringing it to local parishes and communities across the United States.

This year, 132 councils are helping provide nearly 25,000 Boxes of Joy — about 15% of all pledged packages — before Christmas. In recent years, nearly 300 councils from jurisdictions across the United States have participated in the initiative.

“When local councils get involved all over the country, it adds up and makes a huge impact,” said Stinnett. “The Knights’ participation has been a true testament to their faith in action and continues to grow the program exponentially every year.”

Among the participating jurisdictions this year is Pennsylvania, where St. Philip the Apostle Council 17028 and St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Lancaster have assembled Boxes of Joy for the past five years, contributing about 1,100 boxes and counting.

“After Mass, the kids run up to get the boxes and are excited to help their parents fill them up,” said Brian Smith, Pennsylvania state treasurer and a member of Council 17028. “It’s a whole-parish effort, and it’s really neat to see.”

Smith has been the head organizer of the program all five years, and this year, the council contributed about 250 boxes.

“To know that [underprivileged] kids in other countries are going to get the rewards of a small Christmas gift has been really rewarding for everyone involved,” Smith said.

This year, through the Order’s partnership, each Box of Joy included a Sacred Heart of Jesus prayer card as an extension of the Order’s current Pilgrim Icon Program.

“These prayer cards represent Christ’s love and remind the children that the heart of Jesus … is always with them,” Smith said. “Not only are they receiving gifts, but they are receiving the Christmas symbol.”

The partnership between the two organizations extends beyond the Box of Joy initiative. Cross Catholic Outreach hosts events where volunteers package protein-rich Vitafood meals to send to children and families in need in the United States and to countries across the world. In 2024, the organization provided 32.6 million meals. This past year, more than 327,000 meals were packed during K of C-hosted events.

For the second year in a row, Mother Cabrini Council 7278 in Coram, New York, organized a food packing event in October where 220 volunteers, including 50 Knights from Council 7278 and 20 Knights from other area councils, gathered to pack 60,000 meals.

A member of Mother Cabrini Council 7278 in Coram, N.Y., boxes packs of rice and beans during a food packing event organized in conjunction with Cross Catholic Outreach at the St. Frances Cabrini Parish Center. (Photo by Gregory A. Shemitz)

“This event gives us a chance to practice all aspects of our brotherhood — faith, charity, love, fraternity,” said William Feaster, deputy grand knight of Council 7278. “After the months of planning and preparation to make this event work, it is a true blessing seeing a team of people who are strangers with big smiles and joy in their faces as they come together to complete the work that Jesus gives us.”

After the event, the council assembled an additional 300 1-pound bags of rice from the leftover bulk rice.

The programs are structured in a way that makes it easy for councils to implement them.

“Cross Catholic Outreach provides us with everything we need to execute efficiently and safely,” Feaster said. “They are very committed to the faith, and this is evident in the team leadership they provide.”

While Box of Joy and food packing events are the two major initiatives the Knights help with, they also assist with Advent and Lent ministries, Water for Life and smaller programs run by Cross Catholic Outreach throughout the year.

Smith said the partnership between the Knights of Columbus and Cross Catholic Outreach works because the organizations share a commitment to serving those in need.

“We’re both here to provide charitable acts to help the poor,” said Smith, adding that he hopes more councils participate to continue the support and help the partnership grow.

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MEGAN STIBLEY is associate editor of Columbia.