April 2025 Newsletter

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April 7, 2025

***DISTRICT DEPUTES & GRAND KNIGHTS***

***PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS***

Louisiana Report

(A MONTHLY EMAIL NEWSLETTER)

Jesus and the woman taken in adultery

Brother Knights,

Last year 65 councils made Star Council, which is an awesome achievement. As you know you must improve each year to keep moving forward. Let’s beat last year’s record for Louisiana.

Most councils do great things in serving our order and those in the community so I believe each of you can achieve this goal from Supreme. As a leader, if you believe in your members, you should make sure and take care of the administrative things for your members who serve and do the work. We are 3/4 of the way through the year, so please review the requirements and see what else you need to accomplish this prestigious award. Everything there is what we are called to do as Knights of Columbus. Star Council is in your reach and the brothers in your council deserve it.

If you need help, your DDs, Leadership Team and State Officers are here to help, just ask.

Vivat Jesus,

State Deputy

Vince Whittington

statedeputy@louisianakc.org

“Let us become his Good and Faithful Servant”

Convention Friday Success of Louisiana

Here in Louisiana, you as councils and brother knights do a good job of supporting our mission. At the next convention I will be adding a new section to the convention to celebrate the success of your councils and Louisiana. I am asking you to please send me your pictures with an article about your events. I want to be able to highlight the things you do as Knights in Louisiana; it will be at a section of the convention that will be open to all. Please send to statedeputy@louisianakc.org

2025 State Convention Registration

State Convention Rules & Guidelines

A couple of tips of importance on convention registration:

1. All council Award Forms must be in to the State Program Director by April 1^st. Please send STSP and Blessed Michael McGivney Award to Steven Hart, 123 Iroquois Dr. Abita Springs, LA, 70420

2. Every Council must send 2 delegates to convention

3. Details, guidelines, rules and registration are online at

https://louisianakc.org/For-Members/Convention

4. All delegates must be confirmed by Grand Knights and Recorder as per council bylaws. This is the confirmation you were elected as a delegate. The Recorder and Grand Knight will each receive an email for confirmation. Both must reply for you to officially be a delegate and allowed a vote.

The deadline to register is April 18^th. After that there will be a $40 late fee including delegates

Worthy Grand Knights,

We have now entered into the month of April. This gives you three months to achieve you goal of Star Council. Check you Star Tracker in this newsletter and see where you stand. Any question contact one of us to help you solve your problem. I am here for any questions. If you are close to your membership total or even if you need 5 or 6 go talk to your Pastor about a church drive that you have been informed about at the Diocesan meetings. It does work. Four drives have been done now and they have produced at least 5 members for every council. The last drive held 18 were Invited. Go out into the deep and cast your nets to see what you might Invite. Time is getting short for you to achieve your goal. Reach out into the heart and soul of every eligible Catholic man to tell him about the Spirituality of the Knights of Columbus and how we work together. The pulpit talk for the drive works into that direction. Go out and Invite and finish your paperwork to achieve Star Council. Contact me if you need anything, as the team will assist you anyway possible even help you with your drive.

Have a safe and Blessed Easter for you and your family and remember this is the holiest time of the year for us the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. Wear you KC shirts at all the services you can to show everyone how Spiritual the Knights really are.

VIVAT JESUS

State Membership Director

Russell J. Ruh, Jr. FM,FVSM, KCFL

membership@louisiankc.org

"Be Fishers of Men"

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CHURCH INVITATION DRIVE

We have set up a membership contact in each of your diocese to help you with this new Church Invitation Drive. If you are not sure what it is about or need questions answered, please feel free to contact them. Also, they may be contacting you to set up a drive at your parish. We want to see you succeed in membership of the Star Council.

New Orleans Northshore - Arthur Mcdowell - mcdowellcvngtn@aol.com

New Orleans Southshore - Glenn Esteve - gfe1905@yahoo.com

Houma/Thibodeaux --------- Bobby Charpentier statesecretary@louisianakc.org

Baton Rouge ------------------ Kevin Heltz - TaHeltz@aol.com

Lafayette ----------------------- George Martin - pgkddgsm7557@gmail.com

Richard Yandle - knightyandle@gmail.com

Brian Decou -Bdecou@oarinc.net

Lake Charles ------------------ Troy Rizzuto - troyrizz@gmail.com

Alexandria ---------------------- David Chicola - davidchicola@gmail.com

Shreveport ---------------------- Ron Dupuis - rd6363606@aol.com

Monroe --------------------------- Bob Brinkerhoff - wrbrink211@aol.com

District Master

George Martin

master@louisianakc.org

"One Nation under God"

State Deputy Award

Click here to see the updated standings for the State Deputy Award.

CYLA (Catholic Youth Leadership Award)

Congratulations to our State CYLA Winners!

Girls

1^st Place Annie Fruge – Lafayette Council 1286

2^nd Place Eliza Foster - John F. Kennedy Council 2952

3^rd Place Lucy DiVittorio - St Peter Council 12906

Boys

1^st Place Christian Lang - St Dominic Council 3729

2^nd Place Glenn Hanna - Fr. Vander Hayden Council 4874

3^rd Place John Smith - St Anthony of Pauda Council 2395

All Diocesan winners received a Certificate and a $1,000 check.

The 3^rd Place winners received an additional $2,000

The 2^nd Place winners received an additional $3,000

The 1^st Place winners will receive an additional $5,000 and a Plaque and be honored at the State Convention Banquet on Saturday May 3.

Keep Christ in Christmas Poster Contest

Marie Smith, winner of Grade 1-2 from Council 12529 in Abita Springs was named the International Runner-up in the Keep Christ in Christmas Poster Contest. Marie received a letter from Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and a check for $100. Congratulations Marie!

Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest

Natalie Whitehead, winner of Grade 11 from Council 8840 in Matthews was named the International Runner-up in the Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest. Natalie received a letter from Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and a check for $100. Congratulations Natalie!

CPID Fund

The 50th Annual Campaign for People with Intellectual Disabilities (CPID) began on October 1, 2024. This campaign will run through June 15, 2025. All Councils are encouraged to hold a fundraiser for “God’s Special Children”. You can donate to your local Facility/Group Home/School and/or St. Mary’s Residential Training School or Holy Angels Residential Facility.

Once your fundraiser is complete, please fill out the CPID Report Online Form and list your beneficiaries.

Please see the attached link for a video on St. Mary’s Residential Center.

https://youtu.be/UPqKC_KKqGY

YEP (Youth Expansion Program)

The YEP contributions are now updated. They include all contributions received through January 25. This list does not include the two checks received at Grand Knights Day North in Alexandria.

All YEP donations are due to the YEP Chairman, Joel Ocmand, by June 15, 2025. Please make your check out to Louisiana State Council and put YEP in the memo line. Send checks to:

Joel Ocmand

273 West 2nd Street

Reserve, LA 70084

Click here for the updated list.

Special Olympics

The Special Olympics Louisiana State Summer Games will take place May 23 - 25 at

Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. Volunteers are needed. To volunteer, you must sign up in advance here.

Thank you to all the Councils who supported Special Olympics last year and filed form 10784 by January 31^st. Because of your efforts, Louisiana was provided with a check for $2,800 to present to Louisiana Special Olympics from Supreme. This is a vast improvement over the $1,500 check last year.

Pilgrim Icon Program

The new Pilgrim Icon – The Sacred Heart of Jesus Icon – has arrived. Louisiana has received 5 Icons as follows:

1 Icon for New Orleans NE and SW

1 Icon for Houma/Thibodaux

1 Icon for Lafayette/Lake Charles

1 Icon for Baton Rouge

1 Icon for Alexandria/Shreveport

Please work with your Diocesan Event Chairman to schedule the Icon beginning in February.

COR

Cor exists to form and strengthen Catholic men in faith and virtue as missionary disciples by drawing them into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer, formation, and fraternity.

Click here to go to Supreme’s COR page.

If your Council is already participating in COR, please fill out the Council EFF Director Submission Form.

Safe Environment Compliance

The first step in being Safe Environment Compliant is to make sure that your Council has filled out the Service Program Personnel Report (Form 365). This begins the process of letting Supreme know who to contact for training.

Is your Council Safe Environment Compliant? The Grand Knight, Program Director, Family Director, and Community Director are required to take Safe Environment training. To check if your Council is compliant, the Grand Knight or Financial Secretary should log in to Officers Online on the Supreme Website. Scroll down to the bottom third of the page and click on Reports. Run the Safe Environment Member Status report. Open the report and check to see if all required members are compliant. If the report does not show the four required roles, you need to re-appoint the missing positions.

To re-appoint any open position, go to Officers Online and update Form 365. Click here to go to the Fraternal Video Library. Scroll down to Forms, then click on Forms 185, 186, & 365 Online Submission Training.

KC International Golf Tournament

We have news about the upcoming 2025 “Knights of Columbus International Amateur Golf Association” golf tournament. This year the tournament will be held in Florence, Kentucky at the Lassing Pointe Golf Course on June 10th, 11th, and 12th. Special room rates for all Knights of Columbus golfers and guests are available at the Holiday Inn Hotel in downtown Florence, located just a few miles from the Lassing Pointe Golf Course. All activities surrounding the golf tournament (Tuesday night social, Thursday night awards banquet) will be held at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church’s Under Croft. If you are interested in attending the 2025 Knights of Columbus International Amateur Golf Association (K.C.I.A.G.A.) tournament, please contact Paul Allemand (KCIAGA board director) at 337-385-2560 for entry package and other detailed hotel information.

Upcoming Training

Online training sessions are conducted by experienced Fraternal Trainers and are available to watch on demand after the live viewing. Encourage members in your Councils to register for upcoming online sessions or on demand training by visiting kofc.org/training, or by clicking on the links below.

Upcoming Online Training Sessions (Note: All Times are Central)

To view and/or register for upcoming training sessions, click here.

April Training Opportunities:

April 29, 2025 7:00 PM | Grand Knight Training: Part One

The Grand Knight Training: Part One webcast training is designed to help you become a successful leader. You will learn duties and responsibilities, how to engage your fellow officers, the method to form your council into a team, tips for working with other councils on larger initiatives, and what it takes to be the “go-to guys” for your pastor. In addition, you will discover what it takes to make charitable works the focus of your council and make it the premier parish organization for all eligible Catholic men to join.

List of Diocesan Event Chairman

New Orleans North/East

Arthur McDowell, Jr.

dd14@louisianakc.org

New Orleans South/West

Glenn Esteve

dd8@louisianakc.org

Baton Rouge

Herb Hollkamp

dd27@louisianakc.org

Houma/Thibodaux

Jerome Benoit