Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 – December 2019 Activities Summary

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Knights of Columbus

 

Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 – December 2019 Activities Summary

 

Reminder: 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.

 

2020 Super Bowl Pool Fundraiser Raffle All Set for the Super Bowl – As we have every year thus far, our 2020 Super Bowl Pool Fundraiser Raffle is completely sold out as of January 8, 2020. Each year our Council sells $50 raffle chances in our 2020 Annual Super Bowl Pool raffle fundraiser. This is 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. You can read more about our Christmas meals program and the Coats for Kids program elsewhere in this Activities Summary. Winners will be contacted the day after the Super Bowl (Monday, February 3, 2020) by their sponsoring Brother Knight from whom they purchased their winning raffle chance. Numbers have been assigned to all boxes and if you entered the raffle you should receive a copy of the pool assignments no later than January 17, 2020. If you do not receive a copy of the pool by this time please contact us so we can get you a copy. Thank you to all who supported this fundraiser through their donations and good luck to everyone!

 

Annual Parish Christmas Tree Lighting Held – Our Council hosted the lighting of the Church of the Infant Saviour Parish Christmas Tree immediately after the 5 pm Mass on Saturday, December 7, 2019. Each year our Council donates a tree to the Parish and decorates it at no cost to the Parish (beyond the electric needed to light it). This Annual Parish Tree Lighting event is part of of our Council’s community service to the Parish and yet another way we give back charitably to our Parish Community. The 5 PM Mass was a Candlelight Mass of Memorial Remembrance hosted by the DeWitt-Martinez Funeral and Cremation Services. Funeral Director Christopher Martinez is a Brother Knight and member of our Council. Following the Tree Lighting, refreshments and dinner were served in the Church Hall at no cost courtesy of the Knights. All were welcome to attend. This event was the Annual Knight Council Christmas Social Meeting where Knights and their families gather to share a meal together. Thanks again for all who came out to support this event and to Father Rodrigo for both officiating over the tree blessing, as well as, allowing our Council the use of the Parish hall and kitchen for the event. You can read more about the event here.

 

Our Lady of Fatima Consecration Mass – Our Council’s Parish, Church of Infant Saviour, hosted the National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima from Saturday, November 9, 2019 through Sunday, November 10, 2019. The Archdiocese of New York received the number six Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the Sanctuary in Fatima, Portugal. This particular statue was one of the earlier ones made. Several of our Brother Knights in the Council were asked to help during the Sunday 11:15 am Mass to carry the Statue through the Church as part of the adoration during the Mass. Our Brothers Knights along with other volunteers from the Portuguese community, as well as, other members of our Parish helped to parade the National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima through the Church as the rest of the Parish adored her– it was a truly beautiful and moving procession. Thank you to all in our Parish who made this visit possible especially Fr. James Miara, the Pastor of Holy Innocents Church, Manhattan, NY and Nancy Finnegan, the Coordinator of the Adult Faith Formation team, for coordinating the scheduling with Archdiocese. You can read more about the event here.

 

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 collected money together in at our Annual Council Christmas Tree Lighting Social Hour and donate the money to a person/family in need within our Parish area. Nominations came from many different resources and were done so anonymously as has been in years past. Only a few Brother Knights that are vowed to secrecy know who we donated 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 once again just magically appeared 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. The amount given away in this year’s jar was roughly estimated at $650 (and is easily more)! Thank you to all the Brother Knights in our Council who so generously donated to this year’s collection as they have done so in past. What you do Brothers is amazing and we are once again blown away by your generosity!

 

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. Beyond a count of families in need only a select few people who administrate the program actually know who the families and individuals are to keep those in need protected from any chance of criticism. We are merely told how many meals are needed and make sure we buy enough supplies to feed that many people. We have been doing this program for many years and the numbers we feed each year continue to grow. In 2017 we fed 72 families a full Christmas dinner. In 2018 we fed 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. 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 helped us to make programs like this possible. This year, because of your generous continued support, we were able to feed 30 families a full Christmas dinner! We appreciate your support and for making this event successful once again– may God bless you and all you love this Christmas for your kindness to those in need!

 

Christmas Food Gift Card Donation – In September 2019 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 gave the card to a family/person in need within our Parish Community. Only a select few Brother Knights know who that person/family was to maintain their dignity and to protect their privacy. Nominations came in through a number of trusted sources. 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 received this gift saw it as a blessing!

 

 

Moved Into 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 this Spring 2020. As a result, our Council moved our Council Hall into the Church Parish Hall located on 22 Holland Ave.; Pine Bush, NY 12566 (across the street from our old Council Hall) this past month and began using the space as of January 2020 Meeting (held 1/9/20). All Council meetings going forward will be held in this space. Over the coming months, 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. Thank you to all the Brother Knights who helped move us into our new space– we appreciate all your assistance in making the move a painless one!

 

Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 – Looking Ahead

 

2019 Coats for Kids Program – In addition to our Christmas meals program 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, our Council has ordered coats for these children whose cost was offset by this year’s Super Bowl Pool raffle fundraiser. Our Council utilized the Knights of Columbus’ Coats for Kids program to purchase the coats at cost. We are awaiting the arrival of 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. Look for updates in the near future when the coats are delivered to the Poughkeepsie Council Thank you again for generously donating to the raffle so we can 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.

 

Annual Council Dinner – Our Council will be holding its Annual Council Dinner on Saturday, February 1, 2020 from 6 PM to 11 PM. The Council We will be reserving a couple of large tables at the Magnanini Winery Carnevale dinner celebration. More information about the event can be found here.

 

Annual Lenten Community Dinner and Friday Lenten Take Out Dinner Meals Series – As we have annually in the past, our Council we be hosting its first Lenten Dinner for this year on Friday, February 28, 2020. This meal will be a stay in dinner at no cost in the Church of the Infant Saviour Parish Hall. If you choose to instead take out dinner there will be a small cost to offset the container costs. More information will be posted on this web site as we finalize plans for the event. The meal served will be pasta with either red (marinara) or white (clam) sauce. We will then continue to host a take out only dinner every Friday night of Lent until Friday, March 27, 2020. Meals will be available for pick up in the Parish Hall. Finally, we will host a dinner and movie night where you can choose to take out meals or stay in to dine in the Parish Hall with a free movie on Friday, April 3, 2020. More information about this series of Lenten Dinners will also be published on this web site as plans are finalized. All proceeds will be used to support our various charity works throughout the year. We hope to see you on Friday nights during Lent this year and look forward to feeding you another fine series of dinners homemade by our Brother Knights!