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Volume 27 Issue 8 - February 2023
THE CROSS and COMPASS
"Faith In Action"
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Events: February & March 2023 | | |
| Every Monday | Bingo | SSBC | | Feb 1 | Council Business Meeting | Dinner 6 pm - Meeting 7pm | | Feb 7 | Serve Dinner | Men's Shelter | | Feb 8 & 9 | Free Throw Contest | St. Matthew School Gym | | Feb 11 | Donated Goods | Main Campus | | Feb 15 | SCBC Board Meeting | SCBC | | Feb 22 | Council Officer's Meeting | SCBC - 6:30 pm | | Feb 23 | Assembly 780 Meeting | St. Vincent - 7 pm: | | Feb 24 & 31 | Lenten Fish Dinners | PC Family Room | | Feb 25 & 26 | Baby Bottle - Distribution | Both Campuses | |
Mar 1 | Council Business Meeting
CCSC Annual Meeting | Dinner 6 pm - Meeting 7pm
After Business Meeting | | Mar 3 | Lenten Fish Dinner | PC Family Room | | Mar 7 | Serve Dinner | Men's Shelter | | Mar 10 | Lenten Fish Dinner | PC Family Room | | Mar 15 | SCBC Board Meeting | SCBC - 6:30 pm | | Mar 17 | Lenten Fish Dinner | PC Family Room | | Mar 22 | Council Officer's Meeting | SCBC - 6:30 pm | | Mar 23 | Assembly 780 Meeting | St. Vincent - 7 pm | | Mar 24 | Lenten Fish Dinner | PC Family Room | | Mar 24, 25 & 26 | Allegro Foundation | Allegro & Quail Hollow | | Mar 31 | Lenten Fish Dinner | PC Family Room | | |
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Brothers,
Happy New Year! I am pretty pleased with my self to have lived long enough to see 2023; I hope you are too. May the coming year bring you and yours good health, much happiness and many blessings.
Council 10852 has been busy and successful the past six months of the Fraternal year and I thank all of you who pulled up there sleeves and got things done. Patrick Noone for the successful car raffle and Bob Desch for all the hard work he and all Brothers for the support of LAMB. And Mike Schmidt and Hank Kempton and their team for all the many meals they have made and served at the Men's shelter. Then there are the many Brothers who work Bingo every Monday Night.
The next few months will be very busy - Lenten Fish Dinners, Free Throw Contest, Baby Bottle, Allegro Foundation, Mens shelter, Bingo and other programs. We will need volunteers to help out. You can access Sign Up Genius from this newsletter - just click on the links below.
Please pray for your Brother knights and their families especially those who are sick or in distress.
Vivat Jesus
GK Philip Giordano
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Volunteers are needed on the 2nd Saturday of each month for the Donated Goods Ministry. This ministry helps those in need in the Charlotte area by collecting furniture items (couches, loveseats, dressers, end tables) and household goods. Items are collected in two ways: Drop off at St. Matthew or picked up at parishioners’ homes that live within 10 miles of St. Matthew. The items collected are distributed to help those in need. The ministry serves a number of St. Matthew Ministries and local charities, including: Homeless Relief Ministry, Refugee Ministry, , Catholic Charities, Monroe Outreach and local Veterans through a unique relationship between the Veterans ERG (Employee Resource Group) at Collins Aerospace, Veterans Bridge Home and Sweet Dreams Mattress and Furniture. The ministry helps 2-4 Veterans each month!
Volunteers are needed the 2nd Saturday of each month from 7:45am-11am to help move furniture, unload vehicles and sort clothing and household items. This ministry needs individuals that have pickup trucks to help collect donated items at parishioners’ homes. Catherine “Cat” Sforza is the Ministry leader at St. Matthew, her contact is to call or text her at 704-576-7776.
Note: DNG especially needs:
· Pickup Trucks and Drivers. One trip to pick up a couch or dresser would be a big help
· Strong men that can move a couch or dresser (great oppty to include High School students looking for service hours)
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St. Matthew Fish Dinners
February 24th - March 31st
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Friday evenings during Lent (except Good Friday)
5:00 to 7:00PM - In the Parish Center Family Room
Adults $11 * Seniors $10 (62+) * Kids (4 to 12) $6 * 3 & under Free
Immediate Family Max $35.00
Credit Card, Cash or Checks Accepted
Meal includes Fish (breaded or baked whitefish),
Green Beans, Mac & Cheese, Cole Slaw, Roll and Butter
Coffee, Water, Lemonade and Iced Tea Included
Deserts provided by the Columbiettes at an additional charge
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St. Matthew Council 10852 Basketball Free Throw Contest
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Our annual Basketball Free Throw Contest will be held at St. Matthew Catholic School over a two-day period, Wednesday (2/08) and Thursday (2/09) from 3 to 4:30 pm. Those Brother Knights wishing to volunteer to help need to do so via Signup Genius or contact PGK Bill McKenna directly at: BillMaurMck@gmail.com.
All volunteers are required to have successfully completed the diocesan Protecting God’s Children program as well as the three-part KofC Safe Environment Course through Praesidium (available online at KofC.org).
Those students who make the most baskets at the Council and District levels will be invited to compete at the North Carolina KofC State Basketball Free Throw Championship at the Fairchild Recreation Center in Burlington, NC on Saturday, March 11th.
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The Columbiette’s hosted a Birthright Baby Shower on January 28th.
A great group of ladies attended the fundraiser and social and a good time was had by all. It was an impressive collection of baby clothes, blankets and other essentials which are donated to mothers in need as they leave the hospital with their newborn.
A special thanks to the St. Matthew's Knights of Columbus for a generous donation of $200 for this amazing organization.
The Columbiette’s will be meeting at 6 pm for dinner at Stonecrest Chick Fil-a on Wednesday, February 8 and then will attend the talk by Father Michael O’Loughlin together from 7 to 8:30pm in the Church.
Knights wives and friends are welcome to join!
kbalding@carolina.rr.com
| GK Phil Giordano presents a check from St. Matthew Council 10852 to Kathy Balding, President of St. Matthew Columbiettes | |
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Columbus Club of South Charlotte, Inc.
Notice of Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting of the Columbus Club of South Charlotte (CCSC) will be held on March 1, 2023 ,immediately following the KofC Council 10852 Business Meeting. All Brother Knights of Saint Matthew Council (in good standing – having paid their dues) are, in fact, members of the Columbus Club of South Charlotte.
The meeting will review major events of 2022, and present the annual financial reports for both the CCSC and the South Charlotte Banquet Center, to include where we stand concerning replacing the roof.
In addition, there will be three (3) Board of Directors positions open for election; nominations will be accepted and voted on at the meeting. Any Brother Knight interested in running should contact Bill McKenna at: BillMaurmck@gmail.com or Don Long at: Donaldrlong@gmail.com for more information. Nominations will also be taken at the Annual Meeting.
Please join us and see what your Club has been doing for the membership, engage in discussion on the future, and help elect its leadership team for the coming year.
Bill McKenna
President,
Columbus Club of South Charlotte
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We serve a meal the first Tuesday of each month at the Men’s Shelter on Tryon Street.
We served 265 meals on January 3. February'smeal is on the 7th.
A Sign-Up Genius will be sent out prior to the date to all those who are on my list of volunteers. We are limited to 6 per dinner. We meet in the St Matthew Church parking lot behind the Chapel at 4PM and carpool to the Shelter leaving around 4:15PM.
If you would like to be placed on the volunteer list, please contact Hank Kempton at 770-508-8208 or henrykempton@bellsouth.net
Some guidelines:
-Maximum number of volunteers will be 5 plus one lead
-Must be 18 years or older
-We will begin serving at 6PM and be finished at 7PM (no clean up)
-Masks will be required and an up to date COVID vaccine card.
We usually serve between 150 to 300 men.
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Allegro Foundation needs our help.
The work is light-medium lifting to load items at Allegro office and unload at Quail Hollow CC. The items will be used during the allegro foundation Ambassor’s Ball at Quail Hollow CC on Sat. March 25. This is the foundations largest fund raiser event. We will also help unload items at Allegro office on Sun. March 26 (see plan below).
Allegro Foundation is devoted to the education and advocacy of children with disabilities:https://allegrofoundation.net/
Volunteers are needed on Friday March 24 at 9am and Sunday March 25 at 1pm
· Please see the SignUp Genius Page
· Contact Randy Mazur if you have any questions
Plan:
Friday March 24
· Driver: 8am arrive at St. Matthew and drive box truck to Allegro to arrive before 9am
· Volunteers: 9am - Meet at the Allegro office (419 Ardmore Rd. Charlotte NC, 28209) and load up box truck for transport to the event
· Driver: Once the box truck is loaded, Drive box truck from Allegro to Quail Hollow CC
· Volunteers: Once the box truck is loaded, meet the box truck at Quail Hollow CC and unload
· Driver: upon completion of unload, return box truck to St. Matthew
Saturday March 25
· Driver: 10:15pm arrive at St. Matthew and drive box truck to Quail Hollow to arrive at 11pm (leave truck overnight for Allegro team to load (leave keys with Mary Berkley from Allegro))
Sunday March 26th
· Driver 12:30pm - Arrive at Quail Hollow and meet Mary with keys, then drive truck to Allegro to unload
· Volunteers: 1pm - Meet at the Allegro office (419 Ardmore Rd. Charlotte NC, 28209) and unload box
· Driver: upon completion of unload, return box truck to St. Matthew
*Driver must be approved and registered to drive the St. Matthew Box Truck
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Things returned to normal in 2022.
- Store solicitations were at 15 Harris Teeter and 3 Food Lion stores (Bi Lo went OOB in this area).
- We worked 141 two hour shifts at the stores and raised $8,300
- We asked for donations after the 15 Masses at St. Matthew on one Sunday October and collected $7,300
- Some Brother Knights and family members contributed $9,400
- A few businesses and a variety of other donors contributed $34,000
- Overall, we raised $59,000 in 2022. This was the 19th consecutive year that we raised more than $50,000
From the funds raised, LAMB made gifts to:
- Holy Angels of Belmont
- St. Mathew SPRED Program
- UMAR
- Gigi’s Playhouse
- Angelic Riders
- Special Olympics
- Allegro Foundation
- Misty Mighty Riders
Our next opportunity to participate in the Principle of Charity for LAMB will be two events in March: the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on 3/11 and then at the Walmart in Waxhaw on 3/18.
The LAMB Foundation of NC is a public 501(c)3 not-for-profit charity dedicated solely to assisting people who have intellectual disabilities within the state of North Carolina. Our organization is composed entirely of volunteers. As a result, 93% of the funds we raise goes directly to programs that support people with intellectual disabilities.
To learn more about LAMB, contact Bob Desch, PGK – LAMB Director - deschr@bellsouth.net
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Coming Soon!
2023 K of C St. Matthew
Baby Bottle Drive
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The weekend of February 25th and 26th, the Knights of Columbus is once again sponsoring their Annual Baby Bottle Campaign to raise funds to support various Pro-Life programs and initiatives. Your generous contributions of $17,500 in 2022 enabled us to send checks of $4,000 each to Mira Via and Monroe H.E.L,P Pregnancy Center, and $9,500 to 7 local organizations which provide critical support to women in crisis pregnancies - as well as to fund other local Pro-Life activities. Because Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, there is a greater demand for pregnancy and pro-life services.
Please pick up a bottle that weekend, take it home, fill it with your loose change over the next 4 weeks and return it the weekend of April 1st and 2nd, 2023.
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Charlotte, NC March for Life - Friday, January. 13. 2023. Mass for Life at St. Vincent de Paul Church preceded the 12 noon start of the March and rally at the Trade and Tryon square. Fr. Aaron Huber, the guest speaker, rallied the marchers. He focused on the need to increase support for pregnant women, moms and the children. Fr. Peter Ascik, former St. Matthew parish priest and current director of the Charlotte Diocese Family Life Office was another featured speaker as was Andrea Hines, a long time Charlotte pro--life advocate.
The marchers were pleased to hear from Abbey Johnson, the nationally prominent former Planned Parenthood clinic director who became a pro-life activist and subject of the movie “Unplanned”. She helped over 640 abortion workers leave the abortion industry. She introduced a “quitter”, Alicia Davis, who was a nurse at the Hebron abortion clinic in South Charlotte. Dozens of us at the March had prayed for years that this clinic would close. It finally did last year.
Raleigh, NC March for Life - Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. About 10 of us were on a huge charter bus arranged by the Charlotte Diocese Family Life Office. We arrived in time for the 11:00 AM Mass at the Holy Name of Jesus Raleigh Cathedral, a new and majestic place of worship. There were lively bands and a Youth Rally at the Hallifax Mall where we were greeted by about 75 aggressive pro-abortion protestors. Their shouts were drowned out by our enthusiastic chants of “Love, Life” during all of the March. The large number of marchers, the bands and the enthusiasm suggested that Raleigh Pro-Lifers have more fun.
D.C. March for Life - Friday January 20, 2023. Go to the March for Life .org website for in depth coverage of the Mach for Life in Washington D.C. and elsewhere around the country. Also check out all the pro-life signs at Save the Storks.com.
Walking With Moms In Need – St. Matthew Ministry Invites Knights and Family to Help - Walking with Moms in Need, WWMIN, offers pregnant women friendship, confidential support, help with material needs and connection to pregnancy related resources. WWMIN welcomes anyone in the community with resources to help moms find everything from diapers and baby clothes to medical care and employment. They host baby showers, pray for moms in their care, and watch the Holy Spirit at work! WWMIN has a “hand up open house” monthly on first Sundays. Get on the mailing list for volunteering information and alerts by contacting: MellisaVScanlon@gmail.com
LIFE NEWS.COM - Visit and Subscribe for excellent pro-life articles and news.
Norman Gemignani, Advocate - Prop Life Director
ngemignani@gmail.com
803-415-2979
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ABOVE: Charlotte, NC - KofC Honor Guard
BELOW: Charlotte, NC - Fr. Peter
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Charlotte, NC - Fr. Sanchez and Fr. Torres from St. Matthew Catholic Church | |
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ABOVE: Charlotte , NC - Andrea Hines
BELOW: Charlotte, NC - Abbey Johnson
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
to our Brothers’ born in
February
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| Charles | Muller | 1
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| | Joe | Llaneza | 2
| Michael | Verardo | 16
| | Brian | McCann | 2
| Cyril | Onoja | 19
| | Bruce | Hull | 4
| James | Weiland | 19
| | Phil | McDonald | 4
| Gabriel | Albuquerque | 20
| | Bernard | Dilisio | 5
| Harry | Damare | 20
| | Michael | Harper | 5
| John | Forness | 20
| | John | Barton | 6
| Joseph | Pollino | 20
| | Lawrence | Jarzombek | 6
| John | Driscoll | 21
| | Eric | Oklar | 6
| Daniel | Troy | 22
| | Kyle | Sprenger | 6
| Michael | Osmera | 23
| | C | Williams | 8
| Stephen | Rusinko | 23
| | Charles | Neeler | 9
| Tim | Mank | 24
| | August | Sundermeier | 9
| Paul | Schexnayder | 25
| | Michael | Bocian | 10
| Jeffrey | Zwally | 25
| | Jack | Amar | 12
| Phillip | Budidharma | 28
| | Eric | Eberle | 13
| Chuck | Krull | 28
| | Bob | Kerfonta | 15
| Michael | Dawson | 29
| | Lary | Lantz | 16 | Christopher | Tonsing | 29
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
to our Wives
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HAPPY Anniversary!!!
to our
Brothers & their Wives
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| Philomena | Mrkus | 2
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| Richard&Sheila | Burroughs | 8
| | Mary | Ingrao | 11
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| Norm & Rosie | Smith | 11
| | Mary | Kolenik | 13
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| Tony & Mary | Simone | 24
| | Amanda | Gibson | 16
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| Ed & Karen | Craig | 27
| | Eileen | McIntyre | 21
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| | Marlene | Mount | 21
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| | Joyce | Wigger | 24
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| | Audrey | Piepmeier | 26
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If your Wife's Birthday or Your Anniversary Isn't Listed -
Contact Don Gacevich at dgacevich@gmail.com
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Fraternal Year 2022/2023
Council Officers
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| Chaplain
Fr. Binoy Davis
704-543-7677 | Grand Knight
Phil Giordano
845-391-7212 | Deputy Grand Knight
Rich Sanna
516-578-6278 | | Chancellor
Hank Kempton
770-508-8208 | Warden
Steve Doscher
631-877-8828 | Financial Secretary
John Coudriet
704-965-0048 | | Treasurer
Tom Larkin, PGK
803-762-8989 | Recorder
Norm Smith
704-614-3700 | 3 Year Trustee
Ray Misiunas, PGK
980-226-4100 | | 2 Year Trustee
Rory Wall, PGK
704-281-6737 | 1 Year Trustee
Bill McKenna, PGK, PFN
704-560-6997 | Advocate
Norm Gemignani, PGK
803-415-2979 | | Lecturer
Randy Mazur
704-451-4927 | Inside Guard
Bob Mrkus, Membership
607-742-9354 | Outside Guard
Mike Sbarbari
718-600-9024 | | |
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Fraternal Year 2022/2023
Service Programs - Directors & Chairmen
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| Program Director
Rich Sanna, Deputy GK
516-578-6278 | Faith Director
vacant
| Vocations Chairman
vacant | | Community Director
Hank Kempton, Chancellor
770-508-8208 | Pro-Life Director
Norm Gemignani, PGK
803-415-2979 | Membership Director
Bob Mrkus, Inside Guard
607-742-9354 | | Recruitment Chairman
vacant | Retention Chairman
Bill McKenna, PGK, PFN
704-560-6997 | Insurance Promotion
vacant | | Health Service Chairman
vacant | Public Relation Chairman
Tom Larkin, PGK, Treasurer
803-762-8989 | Bingo Chairman
Joe Corso, CCSC Past President
703-340-4099 | | Car Raffle Chairman
Patrick Noone
704-534-2890
| Family Picnic Chairman
vacant | Free Throw Basketball Chairman
Bill McKenna, PGK, PFN
704-560-6997 | | Golf Outing Chairman
Patrick Noone
704-534-2890 | LAMB Director
Bob Desch, PGK
704-618-0428 | Lenten Dinner Chairman
Grand Knight Phil Giordano
845-391-7212 | | Men's Shelter Chairman
Hank Kempton, Chancellor
770-508-8208
| Operation Exodus, Director
Joe Corso
703-340-4099 | Parish Breakfast Chairman
vacant
| | Remembrance Chairman
Bill McKenna, PGK, PFN
704-560-6997 | St. Patrick's Day Parade Chairman
Rory Wall, PGK
704-281-6737 | St. Patrick's Day Party Chairman
Tim Conroy
704-543-7677 | | State Raffle Chairman
Tom Larkin, PGK, Treasurer
803-762-8989 | Thanksgiving Turkey Drive Bill McKenna, PGK, PFN
704-560-6997 | Valentine's Day Party Chairman
vacant | | Youth Scholarship Chairman
vacant | The Cross and Compass - EditorTom Larkin, PGK
803-762-8989 |
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Fraternal Year 2022/2023
North Carolina State Council
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| North Carolina State LAMB Director
Richard White, PGK
704-975-2953 | North Carolina State LAMB Treasurer
Bob Desch, PGK
704-618-0428 | N. C. State VAVS Deputy Representative
George King II, PGK
980-829-8714 | | | | | |
