Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 – October-November 2019 Activities Summary
Annual Knights Memorial Mass – The Annual Hudson Valley Chapter Memorial Mass was held on Saturday, November 9th; 2019. The event was hosted by our Brothers in the Blessed Titus Brandsma Council #16519. The mass was celebrated at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Caramel. Among the remembered Brothers in our Councils throughout the Hudson Valley Chapter who were remembered at the mass were two deceased Brother Knights from our Council. First deceased Council member Brother Knight William Grimm, who passed away earlier this year, was remembered. Also remembered at the mass was deceased Council member Brother Knight Don Belz, who passed away a few weeks before the mass. More about Brother Don can be found below. May our Brothers William and Don rest in Christ’s eternal peace and may Jesus comfort their loved ones with his grace.
In Memorium – It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of our Life Member Brother Knight Don Belz, a longtime parishioner of the Church of the Infant Saviour and member of our Council since 1973. Don was a retired Army paratrooper that served valiantly in Korea and Vietnam. A funeral mass was celebrated on Wednesday October 23, 2019 at The Church of the Infant Saviour in Pine Bush, NY. Don was interred next to his beloved wife Geraldine on Saturday; October 26, 2019 in New Prospect Cemetery with full military honors. Brother Don’s obituary can be found here. Please keep our Brother Knight Don and his loved ones in your prayers.
Knights Consecration to the Holy Family Program – Our Council sponsored a mass dedicated to Consecration to the Holy Family tat the Church of the Infant Saviour in Pine Bush, NY on Saturday; November 23, 2019. All the families in our Parish Community were invited join us as we consecrated ourselves to the Holy Family and pledged to devote ourselves to the ideal model of familial love set by Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This program was part of the Knights of Columbus’ Faith In Action initiative. Thank you to all who attended and supported this blessed event! It was really wonderful to see so many people turn out and what a positive impact the mass had on our Parish community. You can read more about the event here.
New Council Tee Shirts Available for Purchase – Last year we refreshed our formal Council polo design to reflect our then newly adopted name as the Knights of Columbus Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329. This past month we selected a new design for our Council tee shirts updated with our new Council name as well. The theme of the new tee shirt is “Stand for the flag, kneel for the cross.” Our Knights polo shirts are worn by Brother Knights during more formal events like Chapter Meetings, Degree Ceremonies, and Masses. Our Knights tee shirts are worn by Brother Knights during our charity events and where ever we are performing more manual labor orientated tasks. Both shirts are open for purchase to any Brother Knight in good standing with the Order. If you wish to purchase a polo the cost is $33 per shirt. Tee shirts can be purchased for $17 per shirt. Please contact the Council if you wish to order either one and we arrange payment, as well as, pick up once the first order comes in.
Children’s Bible Giveaway Program – Our Council selected an edition of a Catholic children’s Bible that has colorful pictures and age appropriate wording in it for Second grade age school children from St. Michael’s Media Publishing. This past month we gave out these new bibles to all the children in the Church of the Infant Saviour second grade Religious Education classes. A children’s Bible translates the Bible into simple English language that is readable by young children. Children’s Bibles are a wonderful way to introduce young children to our Faith. We also donated a St. Joseph’s Catechist guide for kids and several DVDs from St. Michael’s Media about the Eucharist to the program. We are really excited about this program and know it will enrich the lives of our Parish’s children. Programs like these are made possible through your continued support.
2020 Super Bowl Pool Fundraiser Raffle – It is that time of year again, our Council is selling $50 chances in our 2020 Annual Super Bowl Pool raffle fundraiser. This the primary annual fundraiser for our Council. All proceeds from this fundraiser will be used to offset costs incurred by our 2019 Annual Christmas Meals for the Needy Program for families in need, as well as, the purchase of winter coats for children in need in the Poughkeepsie, NY area. You can read more about the fundraiser here. If you are interested in purchasing a $50 raffle chance please contact us for more info.
Donations to Those In Need – Our Council was made aware of two persons in need of assistance. One was a Religious in need of a new car to replace theirs. We donated $500 to help that Religious out in their time of need. Another was a family in need of money for various reasons. Again we donated $500 to that family to help them out in their time of need.
Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 – Looking Ahead
Christmas Food Gift Card Donation – Last month our Council was given a $25 gift card through the Knights of Columbus Hudson Valley Chapter. The gift card donation came from St. Martin de Porres RC Church in Poughkeepsie, NY. St. Martin’s keeps a donation bin in their Church that lets Parishioners donate to the Knights of Columbus HV Chapter Councils. The HV Chapter then equally divides up the donations received for a given year from the Parish and distributes those equally divided donations to all the local Councils within the Chapter in the form of gift cards. In December, as part of our Annual Works of Mercy for the Poor in Need During Christmas, we will be giving the card to a family/person in need within our Parish Community. Thank you to the Parishioners of St. Martin De Porres and to the Hudson Valley Chapter for giving us this gift card– we know the person/family who will receive this gift will see it as a blessing!
2019 Annual Jerry’s Jars Fundraiser – Each year our Council collects spare change throughout the year and in December collects it into a single jar. “Jerry’s Jars” is named after our past Financial Secretary Jerry Wieczorek who instituted the practice of our members saving change all year to add together at Christmas time so we can give it to a family in need. It is in the spirit of the best selling book, “Christmas Jars” by Jason Wright. Sadly, Jerry passed away only a couple of years after this was started and it is great that we can keep his ministry alive. Once again this year our Council will donate the money to a person or family in need within our Parish area. Nominations come from many different resources and are done so anonymously. Only a few Brother Knights that are vowed to secrecy know who we donate the money to and we never actually talk with the person who gets the donation so they do not even know where the money came from. It just appears on their doorstep on a randomly decided morning. This donation is part of our Annual Works of Mercy for the Poor in Need During Christmas and is yet another way our Council helps the local Catholic community through charitable giving, as well as, volunteer work. Over the years we have given away hundreds of dollars (and really probably over a thousand dollars– we don’t really keep count) to people in need through this program. This year the event is especially meaningful as just a few months ago, Jerry’s son Brian Wieczorek has transferred back to our Council. In speaking with Brian, he is particularly touched to learn we continue his father’s legacy of giving back to the community and continue this event annually.
2019 Annual Christmas Meals for the Needy Program – Each year we purchase a full dinner to feed needy families and people on Christmas. This gift from our Council gives dignity and nutrition to those who otherwise would not have a full Christmas dinner this year. Families are located throughout the Pine Bush Central School District area (covering some five towns throughout Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties). This includes our Parish community area and other adjacent areas. Families are anonymously nominated by several reliable sources. Only a few Brother Knights know who the families and individuals are to keep those in need protected from any chance of criticism. We have been doing this program for many years and the numbers we feed each year continue to grow. In 2017 we fed over 70 families a full Christmas dinner. In 2018 we fed over 30 families a full Christmas dinner. The number of families fed is based on the number of families requested and we have never not met the requests put in for dinners. Our plan is to feed at least that many families and ideally even more this year. Your generous raffle chance donation will directly help these people in the Pine Bush, NY community and those nearby to it out this Christmas. We work with several local grocery stores to leverage our money to its best usage and always steward your donation with the utmost care. This program is directly offset in cost by our Annual Super Bowl Pool Fundraiser and your support of this event helps us to make programs like this possible.
2019 Coats for Kids Program – In addition to meals this year, we have been approached by our Brother Knights serving the Poughkeepsie, NY area in Dutchess County. They are desperate for children’s winter coat donations for the communities they serve. As such, we will be providing them with coats whose cost will also be offset by this fundraiser. Our Council will be utilizing the Knights of Columbus’ Coats for Kids program. We will be able to provide a case of coats that will keep 12 children in need warm throughout this winter season. This program is also directly offset in cost by our Annual Super Bowl Pool Fundraiser and your support of this event helps us to make programs like this possible.
Catholic ID Cards – Our Council has been looking into lamented cards identifying you as Catholic and explaining what to do if unable to communicate that you are a Catholic during a medical emergency event such as heart attack or car accident. The cards would be given out to all in Parish interested in them at no charge. Stay tuned for details as we firm up details about the card and when it will be available to the Parish community.
New Council Hall – Thanks to the generous donations of many parishioners at the Church of the Infant Saviour, our Church has raised the funds needed to rehabilitate the former preschool building that our Council currently uses as our Council Hall into a rectory for Parish Priests. Father Rodrigo is working with several of our Parishioners and hired professionals to begin the process of receiving approvals needed from the Town of Crawford to begin work. As a result, our Council will be moving our Council Hall in the coming months to the Church Hall. As part of that move, we will be donating time and material to rehabilitate the Church’s kitchen including installing a new commercial grade sink. This is a win-win for all involved: Our Church will get a proper rectory to house our Pastor, associate Pastors and visiting Priests for many years to come. Our Church will also get an updated kitchen for use by Parish community. Our Council will get a new space to hold its monthly meetings at. Stay tuned for an announcement of when we will formally begin meeting in the Council Hall (ETA is around March 2020). For now though, we are continuing to meet in the preschool building until that notice is issued.
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