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Meet Our Knights Of Columbus: Bringing The Faith Alive Through Service And Fraternity
Charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism are the four guiding principles of the Knights of Columbus. Everything that the Our Lady of Lourdes Knights do falls into one of these categories.
Our Knights of Columbus Council 12025 currently meets in person at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month in the Bernadette Center. During the COVID-19 closures, the Knights continued to meet via the Zoom videoconferencing platform. It was important to both the Knights and Fr. Patrick Keane wanted to keep everything as normal as possible — they even held their popular fish fry fundraisers, albeit in a drive-through fashion.
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“We had the highest number of plates served over what we have ever had,” says Grand Knight Tom Dunham. “It was a blessing to see that much help. The parish came out to support us.”
Tom feels blessed to be a part of this organization — he has been an active Knight for about 24 years and transferred to Council 12025 about five years ago. He enjoys having the opportunity to meet men of faith from all age groups, as well as being able to support organizations in need and help with various maintenance projects at Our Lady of Lourdes. The Knights also assist with school projects when they are needed. In addition, they host a pancake breakfast when students, teachers, and staff return to school, as well as a Santa Claus breakfast around Christmastime.
“We are here to help when we are needed,” Tom says. “Service is a big part of this organization.
Knights of Columbus Council 12025 team helping the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary move from the convent
The council also uses various fundraisers to collect money for organizations like Coats for Kids, Divine Mercy Radio, Birth Choice, and Special Olympics, to name a few. The Knights also support one or two seminarians a year with a stipend.
In July, the council members hosted an event for seminarians of the diocese, called the Seminarians Ultimate Frisbee Invitational. This was an opportunity for the seminarians to pray, enjoy time together and have fun. The Knights do a shrimp boil for attendees.
“Hands down, this is my favorite thing we do each year,” Tom says. “It’s just a really fun event for these men and for us.”
For Tom, helping others with his friends in the Knights of Columbus is truly a blessing.
“I’ve made so many friendships,” Tom says. “There are guys I met 25 years ago and we are still friends. I’ve made lifelong friendships in the service of others. The Knights of Columbus is also just a great way to get engaged in our parish community.”
Walt Jones at the yearly ultimate frisbee event
Working together during a fish fry in 2020
A Knights of Columbus fish fry in 2020
