By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Like many groups in America, the Knights of Columbus (KoC) are facing new challenges because of COVID-19 and the social distancing rules enacted because of it. But while the inability to meet in groups, hold functions, recruit potential members during Mass, and engage in other traditional KOC activities has forced them to adapt in unique ways, the Walpole branch has not stopped the charitable giving for which the Knights are known.
Because people cannot gather in large groups, the Walpole Knights of Columbus weren’t able to have their St. Patrick’s Day dinner, their Lenten dinners, or rent out their hall on Stone Street for things like Zumba classes. That has had an impact, as Grand Knight Frank Mosher explained, on the money coming into the group, which they donate to charities.
“The revenue we would be gaining from that is now on hold, so it does hurt us in the long run," said Mosher. "The fact that during Lent we hold our fish dinners on Friday nights and those were cancelled once March hit; and we were planning another spring event - we have tickets for that, and the money we gain goes into our charity fund, so that means we’re not able to do some of those things right now. The other thing we had to give up was collecting cans and bottles, which we had to stop because there are no redemption centers open. So that’s money for charity that we’ve had to postpone for the time being. We will be back as soon as they open up the redemption centers. We’ll be back collecting again.”
This hasn’t stopped the Knights from going forward with their charitable endeavors in other forms. Mosher explained that the Knights “make money to give away money,” exemplifying this call to charity. In fact, the group recently raised $500 for the Walpole Community Food Pantry, and some members are personally helping the pantry with distribution.
“We just donated 500 dollars to the Walpole Food Pantry to help them out, and are considering some other things within the realm of how much money we have available, considering we don’t have a lot of revenue coming in. But we did just give 500 dollars to [the pantry] and will be looking at other opportunities. We have Knights who help get the food, donate the food and distribute the food, but since the senior center is closed, they’ve been constricted in what they can do. But there are still Knights out doing that every week. It’s just on a much more limited scale. I do know we will continue to talk and have guys come up with ideas.”
The Knights have also been unable to meet together on Tuesdays and Fridays in the downstairs area of their building. Because of this inability, some things, like the new member initiation ceremonies, have had to go online. This has also impacted the way the organization has to recruit members. Rather than meet people during Mass, the group has had to use word of mouth to recruit new members.
“The way we would normally recruit - which is at our churches, at Masses and at our events - we can’t do that. Now, it’s more word of mouth - trying to get brothers who know someone that might want to become a member. We could interview them by phone, so we can still go through that, and now that they’ve opened up these virtual [inductions], we have not stopped. Which is great, because without that, it would be a long time to bring someone in. We’ve found, over the years, if someone wants to become a Knight and expresses interest, they want to become a Knight now - not six months or a year from now.”
Knights of Columbus membership is open to Catholic men over the age of eighteen. Mosher noted that the group seeks to help the Walpole community, Blessed Sacrament and St. Mary’s, and that they don’t tend to reach out too far beyond that.
But if you’re thinking the KOC is an old boy’s drinking club like it once was, you would be sorely mistaken.
“It’s not like it used to be," explains Mosher, "and it really was, if you look back at the history. All the Oldtimers will tell you it wasn’t the nicest place to be. But that’s not really true anymore. I’m the Grand Knight here now, and I’ve been for a couple of years, and I really push the fact that that’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to socialize, but it’s really a social place to talk somewhat about our religion, things that we can do, activities we can get involved in. Guys are always bringing up suggestions like ‘I know this family that needs this,' or ‘I just heard about this. Maybe we can get involved.’
"That’s really what we’re all about.”
