Grand Knight’s Blog – April 2022
Next Meeting
Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Time: 7:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . doors open at 7:00
Place: St. Matthias Parish Hall
Method: Live and in person
Activities and News Since Last Meeting
· Reminder: New Meeting Location
Remember, meetings will be at St. Matthias Parish Hall, 409 Hemenway Street, Marlborough, MA 01752 until further notice.
· Ukranian Solidarity Fund
Since February 27th, we have raised $3,300 on the website for the Ukranian Solidarity Fund. Today I made a third disbursement to K of C Charities in New Haven. We have disbursed all $3,300 to Supreme. As of today, Supreme has raised $11.2 million. We are in 13th place in the country, which is not too shabby considering the size of the councils ahead of us, including the entire California state council and big cities like Columbus, Ohio.
· March Madness Pool
We only took in $60, so this event was a bust this year. Partly because we got a slow start, partly because we didn’t promote it well enough and early enough, and partly because there simply wasn’t as much interest this year.
· Council #131 in Hudson
I was notified by Supreme Secretary Patrick T. Mason that Council #131 was official merged with Council #81 by resolution of the Supreme Council on April 8th. See attached resolution. We have official permission to invade and conquer Hudson now.
Programs and Upcoming Events
· Mike Gibson’s Run for State Warden
Council #81’s own Mike Gibson, State Program Director, is running for State Warden. There will be a Friendship Dinner on May 14th at the Westborough K of C Hall at 6:30 to help Mike launch his campaign and defray costs. Brochure attached. I am sincerely hoping Council #81 provides significant support for our worthy past Grand Knight taking this important seat at the State headquarters.
· Ultrasound Program
This program has gotten tremendous support from the Pastors of our three churches. I formed a small ad hoc steering committee consisting of FS Mike Wells who has been leading the effort, Deacon Chuck Rossignol who was heavily involved in the Walk for Life and other Respect Life events at I.C., Dale Dolesh who had actual experience with an Ultrasound program in Michigan, State Program Chairman Mike Gibson, and DD Rich Pulice. We had one short meeting to take the temperature of the Council and to help discern the parameters of our involvement. Mike Wells will be presenting a motion for ongoing support of this program tonight. If anybody else is interested in being on the committee or taking a leadership role at one of the parishes, please speak up tonight.
In essence, we have been asked to raise funds to purchase an Ultrasound machine for the First Concern Pregnancy Resource Center in Marlborough. This organization has been in existence for over 25 years in Clinton and branched out to Marlborough last year. Mike Wells and I investigated their background and found them to be a stellar organization. Their President is a Deacon and they have two M.D.’s on their board. The cost of this machine will be around $28,000, but Supreme will match our fundraising dollar for dollar, so our investment is $14,000. First Concern will ramp up its mission with a Medical Director and qualified staff to administer the test and provide women with unplanned pregnancies with valuable information to help them make their best choice.
First Concern’s Executive Director and lead person of this program is Megan Paradis. As a preliminary matter, we applied for approval from the Archdiocese, and First Concern was investigated by Marianne Luthin of the Archdiocese’s Pro-Life office and passed muster. We then began formulating some graphics and website information to get ready for a launch.
Fr. Steven asked to delay the launch of this fundraiser until after Easter so it did not interfere with other parish activities, but Fr. Ren wanted to work it into the Lenten mission, so we had began outreach at St. Michael’s on April 3rd. To be honest, we thought this would be a dry run and give us a little experience to map out our permanent strategy, but the response was overwhelming. Megan Paradis spoke at 3 masses and we had Knights Chris Lundberg and Brendan Butler collecting with cans along with Mike Wells and Mike Tremblay. We also had the online donation portal set up on our website, along with a “QR Code” that people could snap from their smartphones and donate on the spot. We collected $1,800 in cash and checks after the three masses, and raised another $3,100 in credit card donations one the website, for a total of $4,900. Not a bad dry run. We are already at about 35% of our goal, and we haven’t really started yet. The parishioners at St. Mike’s were highly receptive to this campaign, and thanking us for our support after the Masses. It appears to be a popular initiative among Catholics, fills a gap and provides people with a vehicle to support Pro-Life programs.
Attached is the flyer with the QR code. Forward it to anybody you think may be interested.
Other Meeting Agenda Items
· Prayers / Intentions:
Please keep Craig Fallon, Mike’s son; Andy Tivnan; and the families of Phil Short and Fr. Mike McEwen in your prayers.
Mike Gibson has been shuttling between coasts over the past several months. His father had a fall and has been in and out of the hospital and rehab. Please keep Mike’s father in your prayers also.
· Other business?
If you have an item to add to the agenda, please let me know.
· News?
If you have any news to report, email GrandKnight@kofcmarlboro.org.
See you all Tuesday night.
Vivat Jesus.
Mike Tremblay, Grand Knight