Greek Night, originally scheduled for July 9, has been postponed until Saturday, September 10. For more information, or to make reservations, please contact Terry Corcoran at 224-7786 or leave a message at the Hall, 736-0953.
Category Archives: Community
Knights of Columbus Sets Record in Charity for 17th Straight Year
The Knights of Columbus set a new all-time record last year for charitable donations and service hours with $175,079,192 in donations and more than 73.5 million hours of service. The numbers were announced at the closing session of the annual Organizational Meeting of State Deputies in New Haven.
“We are very proud of these Fraternal Survey numbers,” Supreme Knight Anderson said. “These are a clear indication that we are keeping faith with Father McGivney’s principle of charity and also of unity, not only among ourselves, but with those in need. This is what we call a charity that evangelizes. This is what makes Knights of Columbus different.”
Supreme Knight Anderson went on to say that these records of giving perfectly illustrate the point made by Father Tomasz Kraj, Poland Associate State Chaplain and Theologian in Residence at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, in his homily during the Mass that preceded the closing session. Father Kraj said that the world needs more men who pay witness through their actions to what it means to be a Catholic.
“We are answering Pope Francis’ call to go to the peripheries,” the supreme knight said. “We can reach half way around the globe to help those in need and we can reach to our neighbor next door. And we do that every day. That makes us witnesses to the faith.”
The number of service hours rose by more than a million over the previous year’s total, according to the Knights of Columbus Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for the year ending Dec. 31, 2015. Donations grew by more than $1.5 million since 2014, achieving an increase in giving for the 17th consecutive year.
The top ten jurisdiction in charitable giving (from highest) were: Texas, California, Florida, Quebec, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario, New York, Missouri and New Jersey. For volunteer hours, the top ten were: Luzon North, Texas, Illinois, Florida, California, Luzon South, Ontario, Michigan, Visayas and Pennsylvania.
Supreme Knight Anderson pointed out that while these numbers are impressive, jurisdiction leaders need to focus now on ensuring that the Order grows in charitable giving and volunteer service during the coming 2016- 17 fraternal year. The Knights continued to support their local communities in 2015 through such programs as aid to Christians at Risk, Coats for Kids, the Food for Families initiative and blood drives. Knights also gave assistance to Habitat for Humanity, the Global Wheelchair Mission and other large-scale charitable organizations.
Another Successful Zippy Bun Booth
Many thanks to all the Brother Knights who helped make the Zippy Bun booth at St. Mary’s festival successful again this year, including those who worked shifts and assisted with setup and cleanup. Sales resulted in more than $1,400 in profit for St. Mary’s. Special thanks also go out to Emily and Robert Rossi at Vince’s in West Sacramento, who donated the bread. And of course, a big thank you to Terry Corcoran for all his hard work in once again coordinating the booth!
Golf Tournament
Our plan to resurrect the annual Saints and Sinners Golf Tournament continues to move forward. One of the challenges that we are facing is that with no longer term or standing relationship with a golf course and with a somewhat smaller participation than other events it will be difficult to secure a premium course, reasonable tee times and other course amenities. However, we have been working on a partnership with St. Mary Parish and School where the Saints and Sinners could participate with their annual golf tournament “Fore the Kids”. The tournament will be held on Friday, October 16th at Wildhawk Golf Club. – a truly great course for tournament play that is run by a St. Mary parishioner. Please see the attached St. Mary flyer for more information but here are some of the highlights:
• 10:30 registration
• 11:30 lunch
• Scramble format with a 1:00 shotgun start
• Use of the practice facilities, including driving range and practice green
• Free beverage and food stations throughout the course
• Hole in One contest (sponsored by Mel Rapton Honda) – We had a winner last year!!!!
• Longest Drive, Closest to the Pin and other fun contests on the course
• Raffle and Prizes
The key to all of this is – YOU!
To ensure the success of this event and provide the most fun for our members at the lowest possible cost – we need as many of our Knights to dust off their clubs and join us on the links. The partnership will benefit both organizations by kick starting the return of the Saints and Sinners Golf Tournament, providing support to one of the parishes our council servers, leveraging our combined participation to establish a long term relationship with a course and in the end reduce the cost of the overall event. In return, Knights Council 953 would be given a half page add on the program to promote the council, a reduced cost per Knight (depending on the number of participants), the opportunity to raise funds for the parish school and possibly a Knights charity, the utilization of the St. Mary registration and tournament processes and most importantly – the return of the Annual Saints and Sinners Tournament.
While we are still in need of a chair for this event, if you are interested in participating in this event or would like additional information, please contact GK Lewis Munoz at 616-2051 or SK Dale Edwards at 359-2412.
Donations to Ukrainian Relief
A collection taken up at the August Business Meeting raised $100 for relief efforts for suffering Christians in Ukraine. Thank you to all who contributed. Let us remember to keep in our prayers all our Catholic brethren suffering from persecution both in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Checks Presented to Pro-Life Charities
Council 953’s amazingly successful Pasta-4-Life dinner in February enabled the council to donate $1,500 each to the Sacramento Life Center and the Bishop Gallegos Maternity Home. Pro Life Director Hector Garcia and Pasta-4-Life dinner chair Adam Struck recently presented checks to both charities. At left, Brother Hector and Brother Adam are pictured with Marie Leatherby and Dolly Broderick at the Sacramento Life Center.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. Here’s to another successful event in 2016!