2021.2 Committee of One Thousand

The Committee of One Thousand is a project of The Dallas Diocesan Chapter, a representative group of all Knights of Columbus Councils in the Dallas Diocese.

Membership contributions are presented on behalf of the Committee members to the Office of Vocations of the Dallas Diocese. These contributions are used as a discretionary fund by the Director of Vocations to provide financial assistance to seminarians.

Seminarians come from all walks of life and their needs vary from simple things like money forbooks, tuition, emergency trips home, or required physicals. In the past funds have also been used to purchase a suit for a seminarian who was to begin his parish work.

The Committee accepts $10.00 contributions annually from individual Knights as well as their spouses, associates, and friends, whether or not they live in the Dallas Diocese. The only common denominator is their desire to support our seminarians.

The symbolic "praying hands" pin identifies members of the Committee of 1000.The color of the pin is changed each year to reflect a new drive.

The Committee of One Thousand was initiated in 1999 as a project within the Christopher Columbus Assembly 2266 in Plano.The first contributions of $400 were presented to Bishop Charles Grahmann for the Bishop’s Burse.

When it became evident that a wider range of contributions would be more beneficial to the seminarians, the project was undertaken by the DDC and established as a standing committee.

On September 4, 2020, SK Michael Greene PGK,PFN presented a check for$4,500 on behalf of the Knights of Columbus Dallas Diocesan Chapter to Rev. Zachary Webb , Associate Director of Formation, for the Diocese of Dallas.

Due to the restrictions placed on visitors to the Holy Trinity Seminary to ensure the safety of the seminarians during the Covid-19 outbreak, the presentation was made outside.

With this donation, the Committee of 1000 has donated a total $65,500 since 1999 to support the needs of our seminarians.

The 2020 Committee of 1000 drive is underway and we still have 4 months left to accept donations for this year. Even with the fund raising challenges faced by the councils we are still receiving donations to support our seminarians. Thank you and God Bless!