KOFC – Council 11091 Newsletter

From the Grand Knight’s Desk:

Brother Knights – NOTE: Due to the feast of All Saints our November council meeting has moved to November 8th.

October was a busy month for our council, and the next two months will keep the pace steady as we head into the Christmas season.

This month, our team of volunteers packed nutritious Feed My Starving Children MannaPack meals specifically designed to assist in reversing and preventing undernutrition. These packages are distributed in schools, orphanages, clinics and feeding programs around the world. This is a recurring event that will be scheduled again in November, please consider joining the team for a rewarding night of charitable volunteering. Giving the Gift of Life thru blood donation has long been a council program and we completed another blood drive in October. We also contributed to the cleanliness of our community by cleaning up litter along Algonquin Road as part of our Adopt-a-Highway program.

Other events in October included participation in the annual National Life Chain event, as a peaceful show of solidarity in the Christian Community for the sanctity of human life. We also demonstrated our support for diocesan priests, deacons, and seminarians during the annual Clergy Appreciation Dinner held at St. Mary’s in Huntley. Out of the 10 parishes that were honored, we had one of the strongest presences at the event, filling six tables with our religious and laity well-wishers. In addition, Monsignors Michael Tierney and Joseph Linster, formerly of our parish were in attendance. I highly recommend adding this event to your social calendar next year.

After select masses, we sold raffle tickets for the Illinois Vocations Support Program. Each of you also received an envelope with two booklets of tickets to sell or purchase. Selling these tickets helps our council, as we receive a portion of the proceeds back, which we then distribute to the 4 seminarians that our council is supporting this year. Too often these tickets do not make it back to our program chairman Gene Gonzalez, or they are turned in too late for submission to the program. Tickets are due Friday, November 16th. Please take the time now to send your completed booklets back to Gene or remember to bring them to the November general meeting.

The Altar Server Appreciation Party was celebrated in new fashion this year, as an afternoon of bowling replaced the evening pool party. Everyone enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs along with their strikes & spares. Thanks to John Schneider and Dee Gard for running this event.

Another program that has been long running in our council is the Recycle Program that turns metal into cash. The money received from this program goes towards the purchase of wheelchairs to provide aid to those who lack the freedom of mobility in our communities and around the world. Our team made two trips to the recycle center this month, returning with over $700. This is a program with a high return that we can all work to expand thru promotion in our council and in our parish.

Our seasonal work began on our Nativity scenes and continues for the next several weeks. The team will be in McGivney Center on Tuesday nights, from 7 until 9. If you have never volunteered for this program you are missing a great way to get in the Christmas spirit. There is no special skill required, the council’s CNC machine does all the hard work and we just prepare the final product for delivery.
Come and join us one of these Tuesday nights.

I told you that October was a busy month! Here is what we have looking forward to the next 2 months:

We had to delay our New Member Social event, as we did not receive sufficient response to the invitation. However, we will focus on inviting those members who are newer to the council to our Family Christmas Party that will be held on Saturday, December 15th.

Coming up on Sunday, November 18th we will hold our annual memorial service for deceased members after the 4:30 mass. Widows and family of our fallen brothers are invited to this service, and many do attend. Honoring these men, and supporting the families they left behind was at the core of Fr. McGivney’s creation of the Knights of Columbus. Our attendance has been very low at this service the past few years – a fact that has been noticed and commented on by our pastor Fr. Peter. It is disappointing and embarrassing when we call off more names of deceased members during the service than the number of live members that we have in attendance. Please make your attendance a priority this year.

November 4th, 5th, and 6th is our parish mission. We have been asked to provide security and assistance with the event. Thank you to those who have volunteered to help.

Our Christmas Tree Lot setup is coming up on November 17th. You will receive an email with more information closer to the date.

For those of you who have read everything this far in the newsletter, I’ll buy you a beer after the November council meeting.

And finally, Thanksgiving means that it is time for Adopta-Sailor. This is our 6th year, and looks to be one of our biggest in terms of recruits that we will host. We need help with food donations as several of our participating local merchants are no longer in business. I will be placing an article in the bulletin to open the event to all of our parish to assist in this most worthy cause.

Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. Vivat
Jesus!

Dan Kotleba