State Deputy Charity Appeal

At the beginning of this fraternal year, I asked the State leaders to convey the message of “consistency” to every brother knight in Texas. If there is one consistent theme that unites us in our fraternal Order, it is the message of Charity. The love of neighbor, the love of God became the founding principle of our Order: Charity. This edition of the Texas Knight is our Charity edition where we celebrate the fraternal charity to our brothers, their families, and their communities. We are a charitable lot, and the contributions in time, treasure, talent, prayer, and generosity on a personal and group level are almost immeasurable. And regardless of how much we give of ourselves and our resources, we come to the realization that there is always another just cause awaiting our attention.

I want to take a few lines here to describe or define what we mean by Texas State Charities. Each council has a goal that equals $10 times the number of active members in their council. The State goal is $997,860.00 Of the money collected, 70% goes to the Bishop of each diocese where it was collected. The bishops, in turn, designate the charities within their diocese to where the funds are applied. The remaining 30% of collected funds are used by the State’s Charities Board to fund educational grants, Catholic Schools grants, Special Olympics, disaster relief cases, responses to requests for assistance, contributions to retired and infirmed priests, Catholic archives, and campus ministries to name a few. And there are others; I invite you open the Texas State website: www.tkofc.org and navigate to the right side of the home page to the “Donate Now” button to see a more comprehensive listing that the Texas State Charities support. Also, this edition of the Texas Knight has the accompanying State Charities brochure with this information and more.

The appeal for councils to meet their State Charities goal, and to even go beyond, is the call to live the Catholic, Christian life without excuse. It is the recognition that funding the just causes of our Bishops, our Texas State Charities Board, and our brothers in need is an obligation not taken lightly. There will seemingly never be enough to satisfy all necessary need, but to those to whom some is given, their lives are changed and lifted up by the generosity of others who they may never even know. And even if they have never contributed in the past, they are affected by the generosity of others maybe even far away. Perhaps it is time for all councils to recognize that unfortunate circumstances can beset anyone in the state, and we all need to support our Bishops and fellow Knights and their families and communities. So, I ask the councils and even individual Brother Knights to contribute to Texas State Charities. The charity work we do may very well lead to a lasting peace way beyond our personal, local, regional, and state borders.

Charity starts at home. It is a well-known saying, and many want to keep things close to home or just at the local level. The truth is we are all part of an enormous family of Knights here in Texas, and Texas is our home. Charity in funds and actions is important to every part of our state home. Our Catholic heritage has always been about Charity, and it has always been the first principle of our Order. We ask for generosity in your council’s and personal charitable contributions because we need everyone working together to make a difference for the needy and charitable causes that are vetted with due diligence. I thank you for your prayerful consideration and may your Charity be the light that shines for all to see.

Vivat Jesus!

T. Mark Evans & Mary Evans, State Deputy, Texas State Council

Please go to https://www.tkofc.org/fundraising/ for online donation or you can use the attached form.Charity Form