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Recipients of the donations included the Granbury SEAL Swim Tram, Brazos Pregnancy Center, Habitat for Humanity of Hood County, The Paluxy River Children's Advocacy Center, Hood County Committee on Aging, Mission Granbury, Neighbors Feeding Neighbors, Ruth's Place, People Helping People, Hood County Kash for Kids, Forward Training Center of Hood County, Rancho Brazos Community Centers, and Hood County Special Olympics.

"We get very excited about it,” Longtime Knight and Past Grand Knight Bob Beckley said. "It’s so fulfilling when you hand out those checks to folks.”

He explained that his favorite story regarding donations was when the KOC presented a check to Janet Steenberge, head coach of the Granbury SEALS Swim Team.

"We didn't tell anybody, but we significantly upped the donations,” he said. “After the meeting, she (Steenberge) comes up, and says ‘Bob, thanks, I appreciate it,’ and I was like, ‘Did you look?’ because (the checks were) in an envelope, and she said, ‘No.’ She opened the envelope, and the (amount) was about four times more than it used to be, and she just started crying. She said ‘You don't understand. I have two or three kids that want to swim that I didn't have the money for. They didn't have the gear. I didn't know how I was going to get them into the program, and my prayers are answered.’ That's why we do it. That's why we do these fundraisers.”

The Knights of Columbus organization was originally founded in 1882 by Father Michael McGivney at St. Mary’s Parish in New Haven, Connecticut to create a mutually beneficial society for a membership of practicing male Catholics.

"He realized that these Italian immigrants were working crazy hours, and they were the sole breadwinners of their family and when something would happen to them, you have a wife and kids and there was no one there to help them," Beckley said. “So, he started this organization and his whole goal was to provide. It all goes back to our charity, unity, and fraternity — a place where men could get together and help other men or other families.”

Today, the Knights of Columbus is a catholic fraternal organization consisting of more than 2 million men around the world who are dedicated to promoting and conducting education, charitable, religious, and social welfare works.

Beckley compares the organization to a men’s club of a church — although at a much higher level.

"We're all about charity. We do it together,” he said. “We’re a Catholic men’s international organization, but we’re focused on Hood County, and how we can help our community — and we do that through multiple ways.”

The KOC hosts several fundraising opportunities each year, like a golf tournament, several fish fries, and the Coats for Kids project.

“Our golf tournament and our fish fry are our big fundraisers, and at the end of the year, if we've met all our budget goals, we then distribute the money to the charities that we support, but we break it down into two areas,” Beckley explained. “We contribute to our parish, and we contribute to the community.”

Through the fundraisers, members of the KOC assist with the parish by donating money for projects, praying for those who are sick or need help, and supporting seminarians (young men who are wanting to become priests).

"We had a parishioner, a young man who had just become a priest, and we supported him while he was going through school,” Beckley said. “We also do scholarships for seniors, or students that are in college, and we give small gifts at Christmas time for the youth in the parish that participate as altar servers."

Currently, the local KOC chapter has approximately 150 members in the council, with Beckley hoping that more young men join the organization in the future.

"We can always do more. We can always do better. But the whole goal is to help our community and help our church,” Beckley added.