PARISHIONERS, SFX SCHOOL, CATHOLIC CHARITIES, SUPPORT THE KNIGHTS AS THEY CLOSE OUT THE YEAR STRONG WITH TWO GREAT PROJECTS.
Food For Families
Prior to Thanksgiving, the annual Food Drive to support the Society of St. Vincent DePaul’s pantry was conducted, with the Knights collecting donations from both parishioners at St. Francis and from students at the school. We recently received the “weigh-in” results from SVDP, and this year’s effort was a resounding success, with over 5,000 pounds (2 ½ TONS) collected during the several weeks of activity.
COATS FOR KIDS
In December, the Knights council here at St. Francis once again held the “Coats for Kids” effort, which is part of a project of the national Knights organization. Needs are addressed by the local councils regarding the type of outerwear to be obtained. The funding for the clothing acquired by our council comes from the generosity of parishioners and others who participate in our “Calendar Raffle”, which will be coming up soon.
Once again this year, our Coats for Kids outreach was facilitated by Father Anthony and the great people from Catholic Charities. We were invited to set up shop at the Catholic Charities Bonita Springs Center on the day that they ran their food pantry.
With the Knight’s shopping team of Ed Peres and Kim Austin, the council had purchased 80 hoodies and jackets appropriate for the cool winter weather here in SW Florida. These were given to local children of migrant farm labor families as they came into the Bonita Springs Center.
Able assistance for this task was provided by Knights Norm Cormier, Ed Peres, Terry Austin, Jameson Depaola, Ephraim and Xavier Caangay and (Knight in training) Cameron Caangay.
The Council would also like to acknowledge the hard work of Paulina Matias and her colleagues from Catholic Charities. They put in untold hours to help those in need every day.