Knights of Columbus Father Hogan Council in Dartmouth donated $500.00 to the SOLANUS CASEY FOOD PANTRY

The Knights of Columbus Father Hogan Council in Dartmouth recently donated $500.00 to the SOLANUS CASEY FOOD PANTRY in New Bedford, the largest food pantry south of Boston, servicing 800 people per month. The donation will be used for food and supplies for families this summer, an often overlooked period of giving. Head of the council, Chris Pereira, presented the check. This food pantry program is operated under Catholic Social Services that serves all of southeastern Massachusetts.

The Knights of Columbus is committed to ending hunger in local communities by asking its local councils to participate in the Orderwide Food for Families Program. “Food for Families” is one of the many projects in the Knights of Columbus “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” initiative. The initiative began at a summit on volunteerism as a response to the economic crisis, which the Knights organized in New York City in February 2009. That summit drew leaders from scores of the nation’s top charitable organizations, including: The Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, United Way, Catholic Charities, Points of Light, the National Fraternal Congress, and scores of other groups. Since 2012, the Knights of Columbus has donated over $3.5 million and 4 million pounds of food to local food pantries, community food banks and soup kitchens.

Catholic Social Services, together with St. John the Baptist, St. Mary’s Dartmouth, St. James, Neustra Senora de Guadeloupe, Our Lady of the Assumption, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and St. John Neumann, collaborate in the everyday operations of the Solanus Casey Food Pantry. Also, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Child Nutrition Partnership, Salvation Army, Citizens for Citizens, First Baptist Church, along with local schools and community members/groups/drives support the food pantry.

The Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic fraternal service organization with over 15,000 councils and 1.9 million members in the United States. The Knights participate in many charitable events and work with a variety of nonprofit groups to support the community. The Knights of Columbus stand for four core principles which are charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. The Knights donated more than $170 million dollars to charity and volunteered over 70 million hours last year. These contributions are the most ever by The Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Columbus Father Hogan Council serves the Dartmouth parishes of St. Julies and St. Mary’s.

For more information or to donate to the pantry, please call (508) 997-7337.