Knights of Columbus donate coats to Union County Schools

Knights of Columbus-Coats for Kids

On Monday, Nov. 29, the Knights of Columbus Council 11746 from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church of Blairsville delivered winter parkas for six boys and six girls in need to the Family Connection Office at Union County Schools. the U.S. and Canada, hundreds of thousands of new winter coats have been distributed to children since the program’s inception.

Council 11746 representatives on hand for the donation were Grand Knight Rick Graff, Deputy Grand Knight Glenn Harahand, and Secretary Ralph Kwiatkowski.

“In the United States and Canada, this year so far, we have distributed over 134,000 coats, Kwiatkowski said. “Last year, due to the pandemic, we only distributed 103,049 coats. In Georgia this year, ‘K of C’ councils have distributed 4,392 coats. (Coats for Kids) is always on our calendar for this time of year.”

Harahand said the group raises money using various fundraisers throughout each year, including breakfasts and dinners in the church, the proceeds of which go into the organization’s general funding.

“And we donate to charities from that, and we also still support seminarians that are studying to become priests,” Harahand said. “But mainly, it is primarily through donations that we are able to achieve this.

“Boxes (of coats) come in arranged by approximate age. Last year we picked

high school, but this year we picked middle school so we can fairly alternate between each group.”

Grand Knight Graff has been involved with the St. Francis-affiliated council for three years now, but the council has been doing the coat donation program for close to 20 years.

“This is just a small part of our overall mission,” Graff said. “We have four founding principles: charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.”

Katy Jones is the Union County Family Connection coordinator, and she said that community support from organizations like the Knights of Columbus is crucial to making sure as many kids as possible have their needs met, regardless of financial status.

“With all of the different programs we are involved in, including this one, we are able to serve between 500-1,000 students, not just for coats but basic needs as well,” Jones said. “The students who are referred are typically through a teacher or maybe even a bus driver who sees they are not coming to school with adequate clothing.

“The need is pretty high currently due to some families having hard circumstances from the onset of the COVID

pandemic last year by losing jobs, etc., and they are coming to us for the first time.

“This type of assistance can be the determining factor betweensomeonehavingfood at night or a coat to stay warm, and no child or family should have to weigh those options.”

Union County Schools Superintendent John Hill said the entire system was “very appreciative from the donations of this wonderful organization and what they represent from both the Knights of Columbus Council and Katy Jones and her team from the Family Connection Center.”

“I think Union County is a very unique community where we are economically diverse,” Hill said. “Some of our students come from affluent homes, and some come from poverty.

“We have a 61% free or reduced lunch program rate from our kids, and to be able to help out those families in need is without a doubt the ultimate validation for us.”

People desiring more information or wanting to contact the local Knights of Columbus Council about how to help may email ralphk41@gmail.com or call 706-870-0819. Hill can be reached at jhill@ucschools. org, and folks can find Union County Family Connection on Facebook.