Knights of Columbus is a global service organization, and the largest Catholic fraternal group in the world. Since its founding in 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut, the organization has provided charity in the community, support for the faith of its members, and financial security to members and their families through its highly rated financial products and services. The Knights’ charity is directed
to projects at the local, national and international level. With more than 15,100 councils and 1.9 million members, the Knights have contributed $1.406 billion and more than 653 million volunteer hours to charitable projects over the past decade. Over the years, this outpouring of time and financial support has benefited initiatives ranging from ‘Healing Haiti’s Children,’ which provides prosthetic limbs to Haitian children injured in the January 2010 earthquake, to the ‘Heroes Fund,’ created hours after the 9/11 attacks to assist families of emergency first responders who lost their lives in rescue and recovery efforts, to ‘Food for Families’ which collects food and financial support for local food banks, to the ‘KofC Coats for Kids’ program, which provides new coats to children in lower income families, to disaster assistance in the United States and around the world, to the ‘Culture of Life Fund,’ aimed at protecting our fundamental values as Catholics and citizens. Knights of Columbus also works in conjunction with other charitable organizations such as the Special Olympics, the Global Wheelchair Mission, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to positively impact communities both locally and around the world. The Knights efforts in the area of evangelization include Eucharistic and Marian Congresses, outreach and resources for pilgrims at World Youth Day, the planned John Paul II Shrine in Washington, DC, as well as a book publishing program on topics of interest to Catholics and a series of catechetical texts in the organization’s Catholic Information Series. Knights of Columbus cares for the financial needs of its members and their families through its highly rated financial products and services. In fact, there is no insurer in North America more highly rated than the Knights of Columbus. Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal service organization that witnesses to its principles of charity, unity and fraternity through spiritual and corporal works of mercy locally and throughout the world. The Knights also promotes the Catholic faith through evangelization initiatives and offers financial security to its members and their families through highly rated financial products and services. Membership in Knights of Columbus is open to men 18 years of age or older who are practical (that is, practicing) Catholics in union with the Holy See. This means that an applicant or member accepts the teaching authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, aspires to live in accord with the precepts of the Catholic Church, and is in good standing in the Catholic Church.
