Brothers,

In honor of St. Francis of Assisi and our Holy Father I invite all councils to participate in our “Outreach Week” initiative by conducting charitable programs between Friday, October 4 (the feast day of St. Francis) and Sunday, October 13, in honor of our Pope.

St. Francis of Assisi is known as “the man of poverty,” and a central theme of Pope Francis has been service to the poor. Now we can show our solidarity with these two holy men by providing outreach to those less fortunate than ourselves in our communities?

I know that you communicate regularly with the Grand Knights in your district. As you attend September council meetings, please encourage all to take part in this Orderwide initiative. The Order has many programs in place to help people who need our help. Please visit kofc.org/community for ideas on specific programs you might suggest that your councils conduct. Councils do an outstanding job of assessing needs in their individual communities and developing programs to meet those needs, so you should in no way limit yourself – or the councils in your district – to the program ideas on the web site. Whatever your assigned councils choose to do, the important thing is that each and every council do something.

While councils are conducting outreach programs during this week and throughout the year, it is important to remember that every program represents a membership recruitment opportunity. A great way to convince a prospect to join the Order – or to get a current member to be more active – is to invite him to participate in one of our charitable programs.

Encourage each Grand Knight to tell us about the programs his council conducts during “Outreach Week” by sending an email to fraternalservices@kofc.org. We will feature the best programs in the Knights in Action section of Columbia, in Knightline and on the web site.

Thank you in advance for the key role you will play in making our first “Outreach Week” a success.

Fraternally,
Carl Anderson
Supreme Knight