Printed with Permission of the Grand Knight
The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization,
with more than 1.7 million members in more that 13,000 councils throughout North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Asia and Europe.
Father Michael J. McGivney, a 29 year old assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn., founded the Knights of Columbus there in 1882.
The Name “Knights of Columbus” was chosen by the founding members to signify that, like knights of old,
the group embodied the ideals of spirituality and service to the Catholic Church, their country and those in need.
The principles of the Knights of Columbus are Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism.
These remain the foundation on which the organization continues to grow.
Annually, members at all levels of the organization report raising and contributing to charities over $139 million dollars
and volunteering more than 64 million hours of service.
Support for the Catholic Church is a hallmark of Knights of Columbus activities at all levels of the organization.
This past year our council donated over 60,000 dollars to charity.
The Knights of Columbus is a family fraternal organization. Emphasis on family life lies at the heart of who we are.
Protecting and promoting the institution of marriage is no easy thing today.
The “domestic church” is under pressure from all sides---high divorce rates on one side and demands for same sex marriage on the other.
This year we have been especially active at all levels in pursuing constitutional amendments that would protect marriage.
In 1981, the Order’s Refund Support Vocations Program or RSVP was created to support seminarians,
and since that time the Knights have raised and donated nearly 35 million dollars to seminarians.
In addition to supporting the seminarians, our councils support homes for unwed mothers,
we donate to food banks in places like Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and the Red Cross.
Our Knights work with catholic youths groups at St. Mary’s, Hurlburt and Eglin.
Our biggest fund raising event happens every year in late March or early April is the Knights of Columbus Handicap Drive
or better known as our “TOOTSIE ROLL DRIVE”.
Last year our council collected more that eleven thousand dollars for our local handicap citizens.
Every dollar collected stays in the local community.
As you can see our order stays busy with these and other projects throughout the year.
In order to continue to do our work we need more Catholic gentlemen to join our order.
To join the Knights of Columbus, you have to be 18 years old or older,
a practicing Catholic and be invited to join. We are here to give you a personal invitation to join our order.
1YR Trustee Larry Bonck
