Knights of Columbus

Knights visit the Minnesota Veterans Home in Minneapolis weekly to help get the residents to Mass.

Since the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) appointed the Knights of Columbus to its Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service Program (VAVS) in 2002, Knights have started volunteering in approximately 98 percent of all VA medical facilities throughout the U.S. The Order’s quick response to providing a large number of volunteers was publicly recognized at a recent VA executive meeting. Officials described the Order’s efforts as being nearly unmatched by any of the other 350 organizations participating in the VAVS program.

Fourth Degree Knights, dedicated to the principle of patriotism, have led the Order in this effort through the "Serving Those Who Served" program.

"The program has grown into a full-time effort for us," said Supreme Master Joseph P. Schultz. "It has built awareness of America’s military — past, present and future," Schultz said. The supreme master’s office is currently developing a strategy for implementing "Serving Those Who Served" in Canada and Orderwide.

Visitation programs, gifts and financial donations have been the more popular ways Fourth Degree Knights are supporting veterans during times of illness or incapacity.

Trinity Assembly in South Dutchess County, N.Y., arranges a monthly visit to the Catskill VA Medical Center. Knights originally held a pizza party for the patients, but now serve a far healthier pasta dinner.

Members of Immaculate Conception Council 4888 in Mobile, Ala., conduct a quarterly visitation program to the nursing home at the VA Gulf Coast Medical Center in Biloxi. Knights converse with veterans, distribute books, and provide snacks and refreshments. The council also offers patients transportation in donated vans.

Edwin Cassell, chief of Volunteer Recreation Services at the facility, said veterans usually spend extended periods in the nursing home and can become lonely if relatives are dead or live too far away. "We depend on volunteer groups like the Knights of Columbus to make up for the visits family and friends cannot conveniently accomplish," Cassell said.

A group of Connecticut Knights led by Philip Sheridan Assembly in Bridgeport has been sending volunteers for more than 12 years to the West Haven VA Medical Center. "The Knights always reach out to our patients," said Michael Rose, a volunteer coordinator at the hospital.

Each December, after a prayer at the home of Park City Council 16 in Bridgeport, a caravan of Knights and their families drives to the facility for a Christmas party. Accompanied by staff members and a Santa Claus, Knights spend several hours distributing baskets filled with basic items, such as razors and shaving cream, to nearly 300 patients. "They hit every single patient," Rose said.

Knights donate new and used items, such as hats, gloves and socks, several times throughout the year, said Past Faithful Navigator John Morgan. The assembly also sends books to the hospital for veterans to read.

Cheryl Cresta, a recreational therapist for the hospital’s Com-munity Reintegration Program, said homelessness among veterans is a huge problem. "My patients always need clothes. They may only have two changes of clothes for the winter season," said Cresta.

Florida Knights raised more than $10,000 to buy gifts, toiletries and clothes for residents at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center and Emory L. Bennett VA Nursing Home in Daytona. By request, Knights also purchased an organ for the West Palm Beach facility to provide music for the patients.

Supreme Master Schultz said efforts by Knights have inspired awareness not only of current veterans issues, but also those of past and future veterans.

Working through the K of C Round Table at St. John Cantius Parish in Free Soil, Mich., members of Pere Marquette Council 1492 in Ludington and Msgr. J. M. Steffes Council 853 in Manistee joined forces to dedicate a veterans memorial monument in the parish cemetery last July.

Members of the California State Council and assemblies of the San Diego Diocese Chapter purchased more than 53,000 religious Christmas cards for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Knights and a color guard gathered at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar to present the cards to Father Anthony Berchmanz, a military chaplain.

St. John Neumann Assembly in Bowie, Md., held a patriotic breakfast. The event was an opportunity to raise money while celebrating the principle of patriotism. Guests from the Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Marine Corps League attended.

Service to veterans has become so widespread, the Order has created certificates of recognition to honor assemblies, councils and individual Knights who excel in helping veterans.

More than 500 certificates also have been presented by local councils and assemblies to members who have returned from tours of duty with the U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Veterans also have banded together to serve the Order. Residents of the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook, N.Y., started Donald J. Burns, Chief FDNY Council 13588, under Grand Knight Robert Lynch, who fought in the Korean War. Burns, past grand knight of Holy Mother Mary Council 3958 in Smithtown, N.Y., was chief of the New York Fire Department when he died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

"I’ve got guys here who were at Normandy in the Second World War," Lynch said. "We had a First and Second Degree and brought them all in. About half of the council members are in wheelchairs, but they’re willing to work."

There are 26 million veterans in America, and hundreds of thousands of men and women currently serving in the military. Meeting the needs of such a large population has required the VA to set up more than 1,000 facilities throughout the United States, ranging from full-service hospitals to nursing homes and home-care programs.

Since the needs of each facility may differ, a successful volunteer program requires each K of C unit to have a representative who will attend quarterly VAVS Service Committee meetings at its area facility. Knights who serve as representatives are expected to show up to learn the particular needs of the facility his unit covers.

"It’s like baseball," said Supreme Master Schultz. "If the representative misses three meetings, they’re out." The inevitable turnover of representatives makes it difficult to reach the program’s goal of 100 percent coverage, he said.

Representatives lead their corps of volunteers in developing activities and programs that target the most essential needs of the patients. "The aim here is to provide consistent, ongoing assistance," said Schultz.

The philosophy behind "Serving Those Who Served" is simple: Our soldiers didn’t let us down on the battlefield, and the Knights won’t let the veterans down now.

Michael O’Brien is associate editor of Columbia.