Knights of Columbus to give away free kids coats

The Knights of Columbus will distribute new winter coats to children in need at seven sites throughout Connecticut on so-called "Black Friday/"

The "K of C Coats for Kids" distributions will be held at sites in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Brooklyn, Groton and Waterbury, according to a release/

"The statewide initiative builds on a program held in Bridgeport over Thanksgiving weekend in 2012. Last year 2,000 coats were distributed statewide by the Knights on Black Friday," the release said

In the United States and Canada, the Knights of Columbus Coats for Kids program has given away some 215,000 coats to children since 2009.

"On the first Christmas, Christ was born in a cold stable because there was no room in the inn,"

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said in the release. "Today, our members are making sure that children in our state can keep warm at Christmas and throughout the winter season."

Coats will be distributed in Connecticut from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at seven locations, including:

New Haven: St. Rose of Lima Church Hall, 115 Blatchley Ave.

Bridgeport: St. Monica’s Hall at St. Augustine Cathedral, 170 Thompson St.

Brooklyn: Parks & Recreation Center, 69 South Main St.

Groton: Sacred Heart School, 56 Sacred Heart Drive

Hartford: Our Lady of Sorrows, 79 New Park Ave

Stamford: Knights of Columbus Council 41, 507 Shippan Ave.

Waterbury: St. Michael’s Church, 62 St. Michael’s Drive

. Last year, Knights donated more than $170 million and more than 70 million hours to charitable causes, the release said.
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Sign blessing at New Haven's St. Aedan-St. Brendan Catholic School

NEW HAVEN - St. Aedan-St. Brendan Catholic School in Westville on Wednesday "celebrated the installation of a new sign that was donated by the Knights of Columbus," the school said in a release.

"Since St.Aedan and St. Brendan schools merged into one building on McKinley Ave. in 2009, Principal Michael Votto said there was a need to identify the school with a new sign," the release said.

"Grand Knight John Winchell offered the services of the Knights who coincidentally houses the Council One headquarters in the basement of the school.  Father Thomas Shepard, pastor of the St. Aedan and St. Brendan parishes, gave history of the Knights in New Haven and blessed the new sign as teachers, students, and other Knights looked on.:

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New Haven-based Knights of Columbus sets record for charitable donations, service

Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson

NEW HAVEN — The Knights of Columbus announced today that it set new records for charitable donations and volunteer service hours in 2011.

Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson released the results of the Roman Catholic fraternal organization’s annual survey in a presentation to its board of directors and state leaders, meeting June 6-10 at its international headquarters.

The results of the K of C’s Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for 2011 indicate that total charitable contributions reached $158,084,514 — exceeding the previous year’s total by more than $3.4 million. The figure includes $29,183,386 donated by the Supreme Council and $128,901,128 in contributions from the organization’s state and local affiliates. Overall contributions increased for the 12th consecutive year.

Large donations during the period included $7.5 million in support of priestly and religious vocations, $3.6 million for Special Olympics, $515,000 for the organization’s Coats for Kids program and continuing support of a joint program with Project Medishare to provide prosthetics to Haitian children who lost limbs during the January 2010 earthquake.

The survey also indicated that the quantity of volunteer service hours to charitable causes by Knights grew to 70,053,149 — an increase of 3,716 hours compared to the 2010 total. At a national average value of $21.79 per service hour, according to Independent Sector, the total value of the Knights’ service hours last year exceeds $1.5 billion.

Among the service programs receiving significant K of C volunteer hours were the Coats for Kids project, Special Olympics and the Global Wheelchair Mission.

There were also more than 418,000 K of C blood donations during the year.

Cumulative figures show that, during the past decade, the Knights of Columbus has donated $1.406 billion to charity, and provided more than 653 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.

“At a time when many in our communities continue to experience economic hardship, the increasing charitable work of the Knights of Columbus is a testament to the power of love of neighbor and to the great things that can be done by those committed to the common good,” Anderson said.

The Knights of Columbus was founded by Father Michael J. McGivney, a New Haven parish priest, in 1882. It has grown into the world’s largest lay Catholic organization, with more than 1.8 million members throughout North and Central America, the Philippines, the Caribbean and Poland.

K of C Museum to hold lecture on Michelangelo Madonna

Michelangelo’s “Bruges Madonna” will be the focus of a lecture at the Knights of Columbus Museum on Feb. 5.

Peter Hastings Falk, an author, publisher, appraiser and art historian, will deliver the lecture, called “The Bruges Madonna: An Early Masterpiece by Michelangelo.” The museum has a reproduction of the sculpture, cast from a 1932 plaster mold by the Marinelli foundry in Florence, Italy. An exhibition featuring the sculpture runs through March 15.

Michelangelo (1475–1564), Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect, created the Bruges Madonna about 1506. It is the only one of his sculptures known to have left Italy during Michelangelo’s lifetime. It was sold to Flemish cloth merchants who presented it to the Church of Notre Dame in Bruges, Belgium.

Falk is the author of the biographical dictionary, Who Was Who in American Art. The Falk Art Reference imprint (formerly Sound View Press) publishes a series of reference books on American art, such as the Exhibition Record Series, which American art historian William Gerdts called “the most important basis for art historical research in late 19th- to mid-20th-century American art.”

The lecture, which is free, will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 5 at the museum, 1 State St. Parking and admission are free.

Among its other exhibitions are: “Christmas in Asia” and “Mother Teresa: Life, Spirituality and Message.”

The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 203-865-0400 or visit www.kofcmuseum.org.

Knights of Columbus Museum’s crèche exhibit open

NEW HAVEN — Nativity scenes from 22 Asian countries will be featured in the Knights of Columbus Museum’s sixth annual crèche exhibit, opening Friday.
"Christmas in Asia" includes more than 100 crèches, scenes depicting Jesus’ birth in a manger, as told in the Gospels. The exhibit runs through Feb. 13.
Christians comprise only small numbers in many Asian countries, from Israel to Japan, but the Philippines has one of the world’s largest Roman Catholic populations. The show also includes original Holy Family paintings and prints from Japan, China and South Korea, the K of C said in a press release.
Visitors to the museum also can see "Mother Teresa: Life Spirituality and Message" through April 3.
Future exhibits include the 10th annual Christmas Tree Festival, featuring the decorations by Connecticut schoolchildren, opening Dec. 1, and a bronze casting of Michelangelo’s "Bruges Madonna and Child," on view Dec. 8.

The museum, located at 1 State St., is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the Christmas shows. Admission and parking are free. For more information, call 203-865-0400 or go to http://www.kofcmuseum.org/.

Photo: Courtesy Knights of Columbus Museum; The Holy Family, interpreted in traditional Japanese costumes using fabrics and wire, on loan from Maryknoll Missionaries. Artist unknown.

Knights to hold 3rd Annual Fish Fry

NEW HAVEN - The St. Thomas More Council #13500 of the Knights of Columbus will hold its annual Fish Fry from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Knights of Columbus Museum, 1 State St.

Proceeds from the event will go to the Vinny Anastasio Scholarship Fund, which is given to a deserving local student to attend either Sacred Hear Academy or Notre Dame High School, organizers said.

St. Thomas More Council is Connecticut's first Public Safety Council, made up of active and retired police, fire and federal agents, organizers said in a statement.
The event will include fresh New England fried sole, clam strips, onion rings and French fries with a beverage, and landlubbers' hamburgers and hot dogs, the statement said. There will also be raffle prizes and entertainment provided by Silk 'n Sounds of Hamden. The event takes place rain or shine.
Tickets are limited, so call early, organizers said. Tickets are $25 for adults
and $15 for children. Children younger than 6 are admitted at no charge. For more information, call Jess Mallory at (203) 752-4555 or John Fretts at (203)
494-2277.