State Council Charities

Texas had a great year last year. The State Charities Team led by Brother Ron Alonzo did a great job and worked hard to surpass our goal, and, for the first time in history, Texas surpassed $1,000,000.00, actually, to be exact, $1,015,707.45. Texas can continue this trend of $1,000,000 a year, but this will need 100% participation from our Councils.

State Charities provide funds for the Bishop’s programs, funds for infirmed Priests through the Knights Of Columbus License Plate, Special Olympics, Cardinal Medeiros Trust Fund, Educational Grants, Catholic School Grants, Emergency Relief, and the Wheelchair Program. Seventy per cent of the funds that is sent to State Charities go directly to the Bishop. The remaining thirty per cent is allocated to the other programs. Anything over the Diocesan goal goes directly to the Bishop.

David Keating (281-650-5503) heads up the fundraising team. Tony Scarpa (832-457-5150) is the fundraising committeeman for Galveston/Houston and Laredo. Joe Hernandez (830-832-6050) will have San Antonio, Brownsville, and Victoria. Bill Kennedy (903-694-5105) will be calling on Fort Worth, Dallas, Tyler, and Beaumont. Gregory Thompson (has San Angelo, Corpus Christi, and Austin. And, PSD Leo Hanus (214-732-2901) will be calling on Amarillo, Lubbock, and El Paso. Be sure to use the Charity pins. The $20 donation for a pin goes directly toward your Council charity goal. Just be sure to send in the pin donation slip to the State office so your Council can be credited for the donation. The donation form can be found on the Texas web-site, tkofc.org, if you can’t find the donation slip, just the name and Council number on a piece of paper will do. Send the donation form and pin money to the State office.

Joe Govea (817-703-8408) can assist you on KC License Plates and the Cardinal Medeiros Trust Fund. The license plate will cost an extra $30 to your existing fee. However, $22.00 goes to infirmed Priests so the cost to you is an extra $8.00 because the $22.00 is tax deductible. The Cardinal Medeiros Trust helps fund the Educational and Catholic School grants. You can honor your Priest or a member of your Council with a $1,000.00 contribution.

Texas has been fortunate to have had Special Olympic Chairmen. All of our Chairmen have a passion for Special Olympics. Carlos Ortiz (817-239-1314) is our Current Chairman. There are several Special Olympic events coming up. The schedule is being revised so we will publish the new schedule when we get it. We are planning a one-of-a-kind pin to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Special Olympics in Texas that will be available at the Mid-Year Meeting. Every Council should submit Form 4584 that shows a Council’s support of Special Olympics. Supreme will donate up to $9,000 to the jurisdictions, based on the information on the form. Twenty-five cents per member of every dollar a Council submits to State Charities can be placed in Section IV, Line 1 of Form 4584.

Giacomo Leone (512-983-7576) can assist you with the Educational Grant. We had to revise the Application Form, so be sure that you use the most current application. The complete instructions are available on the application. The application can be found on the State web-site under State forms. A $1,000 grant (one per Diocese) will be awarded at the State Convention so it’s important to submit the application on the March 1 deadline.

Texas is very involved in the Wheel Chair program. This is headed by Bill Weber (214-405-8023). Contact Bill at yankeesweb@tx.rr.com for a donation form. A chair can be donated, in your name, for $150. Also, small and large containers are available for $16,500 for 110 chairs and $42,000 for 280. The link for the Wheel Chair donation form is http://www.tkofc.org/downloads/v/wheelchair-mission-donation-form

The Emergency Relief Team is headed by Harry Storey (214-557-2923). The State is broken down into five areas. Ben Oani (214-478-9116) covers Fort Worth, Dallas, and Tyler. Mike Buecher (210-710-1457) has San Antonio, Laredo, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville. Austin, Victoria, Galveston/Houston, and Beaumont are coved by Larry Pellerito (281-224-3728). Robert Leal (806-781-9875) is over Amarillo and Lubbock. El Paso and San Angelo will be covered by Harry Storey. Our hope is that this group has nothing to do all year, but if they are needed to assist in any emergency that will help our brother Knights and their families, the men is ready and trained to help.

Every Council is constantly being asked to raise money for projects in the Parish, community, and schools. No doubt, we always come through. We have all learned the lesson of the cable. We are stronger if we band together and support our brother Knights and their families in times of need. Please consider participating in the State Charities program.

2018-19 Bishops’ Fund Ministry Designations

Amarillo Bishop Zurek Priest & Seminarian spirituality training

Austin Bishop Vasquez Vocations fund & Emergency fund for Priests

Beaumont Bishop Guillory Infirm & Retired Priest fund

Brownsville Bishop Flores Deaf & Disabled ministries

Corpus Christi Bishop Mulvey ARK Emergency Shelter for Youth

Dallas Bishop Burnsl Deaf & Disabled ministries

El Paso Bishop Seitz Vocations fund

Fort Worth Bishop Olson Deaf ministry & Vocations fund

Galveston-Houston Cardinal DiNardo Catholic schools fund

Laredo Bishop Tamayo Evangelization outreach & Seminarian support

Lubbock Bishop Coerver Vocations & Seminarian support

San Angelo Bishop Sis Pro-life, Seminarian and lay leadership development

San Antonio Archbishop Garcia-Siller Deaf ministry

Tyler Bishop Strickland Seminarian support

Victoria Bishop Cahill Priest & lay leadership education & evangelization