Category Archives: Wounded Warrior Program

Remembering Amputees at Christmas

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

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Our parish is home to a number of veterans.  Many serve as officers in local veterans organizations at a local, district and state level.  You would expect no less from members of a Fourth Degree Assembly, our Patriotic Order of the Knights of Columbus.

Each year, since 2006, the Assembly members have promoted a Veterans’ Day weekend fundraiser.  Their project this year benefits recent amputees who have returned from Afghanistan and other countries.  They are now in the hospital at Ft. Bragg or Camp Lejeune.

Life as an in-patient at a military hospital is, well…  It’s okay. The care is great, but no matter what they do to make a patient comfortable, it is not home.  Imagine being there as an amputee.  They have self doubt, constant pain, and a longing to be with family. But, they are confined to the hospital at Christmas and the hospital is winding down for the holidays.  It will soon be a very lonely place.  Getting these service men and women out of the hospital takes money.  Many don’t have enough to get home and back for more treatment.

We, the men of the Knights of Columbus, have a project to get them home.  Working with the Military Order of the Purple Heart, we raise money around Veterans’ Day.   The parishioners have been very generous each year and this year donated over $3,200.  What we collect is donated as a gift from the people of St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

Did you know that The Military Order of the Purple Heart matches each dollar collected?

Similar collections are taken throughout North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico are doing the same and thousands of dollars were collected.  Last year, 399 amputees were sent home through this effort.

We appreciate the generosity of the parish and want to thank the veterans of the assembly for continuing this annual event in Chapel Hill.  Peace on Earth and Good Will to All Men.

Sending Amputees Home for Christmas

15 Thursday Nov 2012

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We have been looking after hospitalized amputees for a number of years now.  The brainchild of then District Master Sir Knight Robert Singer, Knights of the Fourth Degree spend their Veterans Day weekend speaking out for our amputees at both the Camp Lejuene and Ft Bragg Hospitals.

Military men and women are always in the hospital over a holiday period.  They are not yet released, so travel pay home is not an option.  Our amputees need to be home with those who love them and we have created a special project for this purpose.

We passed the basket after each mass during 3-4 November.  Total raised at St. Thomas More Catholic Church?  $3,200!  This is awesome in that we are in a very tight economy and personal budgets have taken some heavy hits in our town.  We thank the members of our church for their generosity.

Sir Knights from North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico join our province assemblies to raise money to send amputees home.  We work with the Military Order of the Purple Heart.  They provide matching funds and they are a 501(c)(3) charity for tax purposes.

This is just one of the many projects Catholic men undertake to help others outside of our church, especially veterans. Want to add a donation to the this year’s project?  Contact us

 

Amputees Go Home for Christmas

06 Tuesday Dec 2011

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For five consecutive years our Assembly has stepped forward to do something to honor our veterans on Veterans Day.   We took time to honor our serving military by doing something very special for our wounded warriors.  This group has a larger number of amputees than earlier conflicts.


They have returned home from the battlefield to receive rehabilitation training and prosthetics.  This is an amazing group of proud men and women.  They are eager to return to normal and many want to return to duty!  But, they are assigned to hospitals and rehab and would not normally have the funds to go home for Christmas.  We changed that!

The Knights of the Fourth Degree, Desoto Province (North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico), jointly use this time of year to raise money to send our local North Carolina amputees home for Christmas.  This includes both Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune soldiers, sailors, and marines.  We do this by working with the Military Order of the Purple Heart.  They provide matching funds and ensure the vets get taken care of.

Last year the Desoto Province worked to help send 303 warriors home by mid-December. Then, 60 more flew in with 17 war dead.  It was December 15th.  Our Knights and the Military Order of the Purple Heart met the challenge and quickly raised enough money to include these 60 vets!

We are humbled and honored to perform this service as part of our ministry.  Our Assembly raised $5,125.56.  We thank the members of our assembly and the parishes of St. Thomas More and Holy Cross in Durham for their deep pockets and warm hearts.

Watch this video to see just what a difference we are making by seeing our hospitalized veterans return to normal through rehab.  You are sure to agree, they deserve it!  Remember, it is not too early to start filling a coin jar for next year’s drive.

They’ll be home for Christmas

22 Tuesday Nov 2011

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For the fifth year in a row, St. Thomas More Knights have taken a special collection to benefit hospitalized amputees.

Stationed at the exists with just a basket, a small sign and a smile, they were greeted with coins, dollars and checks. There were five collections over the weekend and the parish was very generous. The final tally? It was $3,638.54.

Our Assembly joins other assemblies in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico.  Last year a total of 363 hospitalized amputees were sent home to be with their families.  We appreciate the support and generosity of The Military Order of the Purple Heart for their matching our collection.

Wounded Warriors – Veterans Day 2011

27 Thursday Oct 2011

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On Veterans Day, we honor the living.  There is a special group of living veterans that we, members of the Desoto Province, honor.  These are amputees at Camp Lejeune and Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

These men and women are now hospitalized and undergoing treatment for their war injuries and they will be there over the Christmas holiday period.  We send them home to be with their families.

For the last five years, the Knights of Columbus Assemblies within the DeSoto Province have raised money through pancake breakfasts, events, fund raisers and collections from  parishioners.  We do this through the Wounded Warriors Program and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.  The Military Order of the Purple Heart has been matching each dollar with a dollar.

Knights at St. Thomas More Church (Chapel Hill) and Holy Cross  Church (Durham) will collect donations after each mass on Saturday, November 12 and Sunday, November 13th. Please be generous.

Our first year helped under 100 soldiers and marines.  Last year we helped 303, then, on December 19th, a new plane load arrived from the Middle East with  60 wounded and 17 dead.  We dug into our pockets and one donor made one exceptionally large gift to help us come up with more funds to take care of the additional 60 and a total of 363 went home.

These year we are looking to raise $400,000 from our churches in North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Puerto Rico.  All donations are tax deductible.  Make your checks payable to the Military Order of the Purple Heart.  Add a notation that the check is for the Wounded Warriors Amputee Project.  The Military Order of the Purple Heart will provide you with a card of thanks and receipt for your gift.

Watch a WTVD-TV, ABC 11, broadcast that honored Sir Knight Robert Singer and this important project. Just click here.

Reflecting on 2010

01 Saturday Jan 2011

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Bishop Burbidge at Holy Cross Church
We have just concluded another very successful calendar year as a relatively new assembly.  We have much to be thankful for, but, more importantly, we have much to be proud of as knights of the fourth degree.
The singular item of the year that  we should be most proud of is not our contributions to charity or our help of veterans and church events.  It is the strengthening of our assembly at the local church level.  It is our bonding as one to support each member parish and their church events.  We often join in to provide honor guards for churches and the bishop, funerals, and special church anniversaries and holy days.
Our sir knights have done great things to promote charity and patriotism.  Roxboro, with its tiny church and huge heart, is always doing outstanding things with Operation Lamb and community support.  St. Matthews members, too, has been very supportive of their community and church.  Maria Immaculata, St. Thomas More and Holy Cross also set the pace for local knights in action.  All fourth degree knights support the goals and programs of the assembly and order, and all are ensuring that their activities extend far beyond a periodic meeting in Chapel Hill.
Our biggest fund raiser is not really an assembly fund raiser.  It is the good will  offerings we collect for wounded amputee warriors–soldiers, sailors and marines–on Veterans Day weekend.  We held our first collection four years ago, and each year since, we have received significant  parish support.  This year we had two other assembly churches join in.  One, St. Matthews, held a pancake breakfast to honor veterans.  The meal was free, but donations for the Wounded Warrior program were accepted.  They raised $680 after expenses for the food.  Holy Cross passed the hat after Sunday mass and collected $724!  Total contributions for the project from our assembly totaled $4,947.66.
So, how was the money spent?  We sent our funds in to The Military Order of the Purple Heart where it was combined with collections from throughout the state, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and Puerto Rico.  We do not have the final total, but over $65,000 was donated last year.  We do know, however, how well we supported our amputees.  Here is the count:
  • Camp Lejuene – 221 men
  • Ft. Bragg – 50 men
  • Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point – 11 men
“We also have 20 stragglers who are not yet released from the hospital but will be early enough to go home for Christmas.  This is an all time record of Wounded Warriors. Thank God we have had a good year raising funds.” wrote  Bob Singer, Vice Supreme Master, Knights of Columbus.
Four years ago, this program did not exist.  Bob Singer encouraged us to help.  We were a newly chartered assembly, but we went to work and our church raised $4,000 the first year.  It was the largest donation in North Carolina and a catalyst for the program.  Each year we, as a combined group, send many soldiers, sailors and marines home for Christmas with their families. 
We, the Fourth Degree, also purchased 13 winter coats for homeless veterans (delivered via the VA hospital) and visit hospitalized veterans each month to hold bingo and award prizes.  We also provide an honor guard for the Caldwell July 4th Parade.
St. Thomas More can be proud of their Knights of the Fourth Degree and local Knights Council.  We continue to set a standard within the state and Order.
There has been a lot of hard work, but we have a lot more to do.  If you are not a member of the Fourth Degree, maybe it is time for you to step forward and join our patriotic arm of the Knights of Columbus.

Taking Care of our Hospitalized Military at Christmas

07 Tuesday Dec 2010

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It started four years ago with an idea from Sir Knight Robert Singer, Desoto Province District Master.  The Military Order of the Purple Heart had started a program for returning from combat amputees.  They were in military hospitals in Camp Lejeune and Ft. Bragg.  Christmas was fast approaching and they were stuck in the hospital.

Spending Christmas on base was never a pleasant mission.  Spending it on base as a recent amputee waiting to be released is absolutely heartbreaking.  Bob Singer asked North Carolina Assemblies to help send them home by donating money which would then be matched dollar for dollar by the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Our then Faithful Navigator, Lee Heavlin, came up with an idea to ask for a goodwill offering for amputees on Veterans Day after each mass.  We have a Saturday mass and four on Sunday.  Permission was granted to post knights in the narthex and a pulpit announcement was made.

The first year’s Veterans Day total collection was an astounding amount; $3,499.  Each year we managed to maintain this level of giving, even with a tanking economy.  The St. Thomas More Church members have always been generous and the church  continues to support this special offering on Veterans Day weekend each year.

So, “How did we do this year?  Well, true to tradition, the church collection was $3,992.66.  We exceeded last year’s collection by $500.  Wait, it gets better.  Our Fourth Degree Knights in Durham did something extra special this year.

Holy Cross Church passed the collection plate after mass one Sunday.  When the tally came in, Ron Patterson was amazed.  “I thought we would get a few hundred, but then they told me it was $722.47!  I was shocked.”  Holy Cross has only been in its new building for three years, this week.  They are not a wealthy church, but they have big hearts.

Next came St. Matthew Catholic Church in Durham.  The Sir Knights of St. Matthew’s did not pass the plate.  They held a pancake breakfast.  All breakfasts were free, but there was a basket for donations, with proceeds to go to the amputees.  After expenses, $680 was raised.  Another small church with a big heart. In fact, St. Matthew’s is the smallest church in the Assembly.

Are you doing the math?  Our total Assembly contribution this year is $4,672.66.

The groundswell of North Carolina Fourth Degree support for this annual project has spread to neighboring states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico.  Our province assemblies raised $65,000 last year.  Bob Singer is now our Vice Supreme Master and the supporting knights are all part of the DeSoto Province. 

When someone asks you what we do in the Fourth Degree, tell them this story.  Then tell them any one of a hundred or more that make up the history of Divine Mercy Assembly 3005.  We dare to make a difference by helping others, not ourselves.