Have you and your family ever watched the telecast of the Pope's midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on Christmas Eve? The Knights of Columbus is the organization that underwrites the costs of beaming that telecast from the Vatican, and has done so since 1976. Our satellite uplink program covers the costs of uploading the transmission and pays for the downlink in mission countries as well. Perhaps you've seen us standing in front of your local shopping mall or grocery store raising funds for programs supporting people with mental retardation. The Knights of Columbus uses its Annual Survey of Fraternal Activities to gather various facts on the work done by local Councils. Information collected through the survey includes the amount of money and volunteer hours donated by the Knights of Columbus to charitable and benevolent causes. In 2006, Knights Orderwide raised and distributed $144 million to charitable and benevolent programs and volunteered 68 million hours of time. These totals - the highest in the Order's history - are based on reports received from most Knights of Columbus Councils, Fourth Degree assemblies, Columbian Squires circles and other jurisdictional entities responding to the survey. Over the past 10 years, the Knights of Columbus has volunteered more than 545 million hours of service and donated over $1.1 billion to charity. In a local level, if your community has an active K of C council, you'll find many ways that Knights are involved: running youth religious education programs, delivering Communion to homebound and elderly shut-ins, painting classrooms in Catholic schools, volunteering at Special Olympics Events. We help raise funds for Vocations to the Priesthood through our RSVP Fund and for Family Vocations Ministry Program. We Support the sacredness of life in all its stages, conception to natural death. We do this through programs such as Mary’s Mercy Center, which is a Food Pantry, Shelter for Pregnant women and their children and a Soup Kitchen and clothes closet. We do this through our Fundraiser known as “Pasta and Prayer for Pro-Life” We also hold Community Awareness Programs such as presentations on the dangers our children can face on MySpace when not properly supervised. We also raise funds to help our local Catholic Schools, Parishes and Youth Groups. | 
