What Fr. Donald Powers Council # 13786 of the Knights of Columbus Does

The Knights of Columbus is a worldwide Catholic men’s organization whose members donate time and money to various church, community, national and worldwide projects. Our local Council is one of the 15,900 worldwide councils with a combined membership of nearly 2 million men.

Founded on the principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism the Knights of Columbus was established in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, assistant pastor of St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Conn., and a group of parishioners. Their intent? To bring financial aid and assistance to the sick, disabled and needy members and their families.

Nationwide over the last year Knights have contributed $185 million and 75 million service hours in efforts to better countless lives. Statewide, 43,000 Knights have contributed more than $5.25 million which is 7^th in the world, and 1.7 million service hours which is in the top 10 in the nation. In Missouri, we also have the Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis which serves children with developmental disabilities (in the Knights of Columbus wing) among other medical issues.

Locally, 34 Knights have volunteered (generally in leadership positions) over 6,000 service hours (with a local value of over $125,000 (according to Corporation for National and Community Service) and nearly $10,000 to our church and our community via Hickory County CARES (food pantry), Star County Athletes (Special Olympics), Toys for Kids, Coats for Kids, local scholarships, McCarty Senior Center, Shop with Sheriff, School Resource Officer and religious sponsorships. Knights have served as representative/case manager for Catholic Charities in distributing and overseeing assistance given in Hickory County. With our national organization, we fund the Religious Education Bureau, Wheel Chair Mission, Ultrasound Initiative, and Vitae Foundation.

We are a busy organization, raising a lot of money and contributing a lot of money, such as:

Our Fish Dinners during the Fridays of Lent helped us:

• Give to McCarty Senior Center Home Delivered Meals program

• Award four $500 scholarships, one to each of the four Hickory County Schools

• Purchase new doors for Parish Center

• Conduct Pro-life activities

• Participate in State and National programs

In conjunction with the PDT Shrine Club, we hosted our First Annual Golf Tournament in September 2017. We held similar tournaments in 2018 & 2019. The tournaments funded our:

• Contribution to Columbian Charities Developmental Disabilities program

• Contributions to Hickory County CARES food pantry

• Purchase of Highchair, Booster Chair and Changing Table for St. Bernadette Parish Center

• Help fund Shop with Sheriff and School Resource Officer

• Contributions to Toys for Kids

• Council Christmas Dinner & Installation Dinner

• Charitable outreach to the poor in collaboration with Catholic Charities

In conjunction with the PDT Shrine Club, we host two Ribeye Steak Dinners each year. This activity provided funds for:

• Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO)

• Contribution to State Vocations Fund

• Other needs of St. Bernadette Church and our local community

More specifically, we do the following:

The Summer Festival is a major fundraiser for St. Bernadette Church with dinners of fried chicken or brisket, vegetables, mashed potatoes, bread, and dessert with games and a silent auction. The Knights support this event by serving on the Coordinating Committee; soliciting Silent Auction items, preparing print and social media advertising and cooking; setting up booths and tent canopies; serving dinners and cleaning up afterwards; removing trash, borrowing chairs & tables and otherwise participating in almost all aspects of this event. It is fun for families and a bonding exercise for parishioners and friends. In preparation for Summer Festival, St. Bernadette Church asked the Knights to purchase more tables. We paid 2/3 of the cost of the new tables with 1/3 coming from St. Bernadette Church.

We support Hickory County CARES Food Pantry and Thrift Store with manpower and funds. Knights are on the Board of Directors and other Knights volunteer at both the Food Pantry and Thrift Store. Our Council contributes funds and solicits our associated Assembly for funds for needs of the Pantry.

In conjunction with Star County Athletes from Skyline Schools, we hand out Tootsie Rolls at local businesses and receive donations for Developmentally Disabled children, collecting almost $2,000, half of which stays in Hickory County for our local Star County Athletes.

Annually, we award four area youth scholarships of $500 each for continuing education.

With support the Pregnancy Resource Center in Bolivar. 

We updated and refurbished the signs on Hwy 54 making travelers aware of St. Bernadette Church. Added “All are Welcome” to the signs to emphasize our openness to all people to join us for worship. We refurbished the floor of Miller Hall. We coordinate the maintenance of Church facilities and grounds.

The Parish Center of St. Bernadette Church is used by parishioners and community members for meals, meetings and family events. The four outside doors needed replaced. New doors were painted and installed by Knights. Our Council paid for two of the doors.

Knights hand out tootsie rolls & other candy to children making the rounds at the annual Trunk or Treat on Hermitage Square.

We purchased highchair, booster chair, and changing table for St. Bernadette Parish Center.

We contributed funds to our youth group to participate in Steubenville faith event held in Springfield, MO. We worked with the youth to serve at our Fish Fries delivering fish to dinners, cleaning tables and trays, emptying trash, etc.; thereby, receiving tips which aided them in their funding need.

Of course, we have a strong spiritual and fraternal component to our activities as well. We sponsor a Holy Hour of Adoration on the 1^st Thursday of each month at St. Bernadette Church dedicated to Priestly vocations. We lead the rosary before mass dedicating it to the sanctity of life from conception to natural death. We give gifts for participants in sacramental celebrations. We led a Novena for Life, a Consecration to the Holy Family, and Promotion of Good Friday. We dress out each 5^th Sunday at mass. We hold a day of Spiritual Reflection. We look out for the widows of deceased Knights; we engage socially with a dinner following Installation of New Officer; and enjoy a Christmas dinner with our spouses. We pray and sing at our meetings; all for the Glory of God!