Brother Knights,
My name is John Bares
and I am your newly appointed Community Director for the State of Alabama. I am
an active member of the Council 13152 of Fort Payne.
Since Father McGivney
founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882, the first principle of our Order has
been charity and we have always realized that each of us has an obligation, as
Catholic Christians, to engage in acts of charity ourselves. As the world’s
largest lay Catholic organization, it is part of our nature, too. And over the
past year we have engaged in acts of charity on a scale that is unprecedented in
our history. When disaster struck the American gulf coast in the form of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we quickly mounted the greatest disaster relief
effort in the history of the Order.
Knights in the
affected states rushed into action the moment the storm passed, providing
hands-on help for victims throughout the region. In Louisiana and Mississippi,
members went door to door to rescue their neighbors. Council homes were turned
over to emergency rescue personnel for staging areas. Knights opened up meeting
halls to house those who had been displaced by the storms and flooding. Soup
kitchens were staffed. Schoolbooks and supplies were collected for children.
Knights volunteered at emergency shelters. They collected everything from clean
clothes to furniture.
The Gulf States
Disaster Relief Fund was built up to more than $10 million. The Supreme Council
pitched in $2.5 million immediately, and state and local councils raised
millions more. Ultimately, nearly $5.4 million was donated to the fund by
councils, individual Knights, and the general public. Supreme Council matching
funds totaled another $2.1 million.
The Knights made a
promise to help those in need along the Gulf Coast, and we have kept our
promise. It has been one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of our
Order, and you can be proud indeed to be leaders of an organization that takes
its obligation of charity so seriously.
The fraternal survey
statistics for last year in Community Volunteer Services was 17 million hours.
Last year was the first time we reported on Habitat for Humanity volunteer hours
and our brother knights turned in 784,688 hours. That includes work done by a
big group of college Knights during this year’s spring break near Thibodaux,
Louisiana, involving men from our councils at West Point, Texas A&M, Baylor
University, and Austin State University.
In 2005 we also
reported the following:
-
Blood Donors —
399,264
-
Visits to the Sick
and Bereaved — 5,464,795
-
Hours of Fraternal
Service to Sick Members and Members with Disabilities and Their Families —
8,456,810
-
Meetings — 270,048
These expressions of
our fraternal solidarity and brotherhood are as important as our gifts to the
Church and community. Every effort must be made in the months remaining in this
reporting year to live out the lessons of our second and third degrees as
extensively as we do our First Degree of charity.
John A. Bares
State Community
Director
