Daniel Schwab, of The Daily News had this to say about a recent Breakfast.
Some members of the Knights of Columbus Council 10436 are concerned there are not enough younger members of the charitable organization to replace the older generation.
"It's a problem," said former Grand Knight John Masterson. "A lot of our guys are older and the younger ones are busy with families and full-time jobs and feel they can't give it proper dedication."
Masterson said most teenage members of the Squires; the youth organization of the K of C, are of post-secondary school age and moving away
to go to school.
`It's encouraged that as soon as they leave the Squires that they join the K of C," he said. "But we don't get them all. We might later on, after they finish school and get a career going ... hopefully."
Masterson said there are currently about 15 local Squires. It is not a requirement to be a member of the Squires before joining the K of C.
Casey Dillon, a first-year Grand Knight, said the number of younger people in the group is "not as plentiful as we'd like to see.
"In our council, we have a number of younger knights, but the majority are of older age."
This doesn't mean there is a shortage of knights at this point. There are 132 members in the 10436 Council.
Peter Nantais recently became a member after "always wanting to be a knight", Nantais moved to Chatham two years ago. He decided he wanted to join after hearing Masterson speak in church about knights looking for
new members.
"My grandfather was a knight," Nantais said. "I suppose he instilled the desire in me.
"It's a great men's fellowship and it's always good to be charitable.
The 10436 Council organized the group's annual corporate communion at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Sunday. The event,brought four degrees of knights together with the community for a mass and breakfast.
"Sometimes we find out lives become so busy, we don't pay attention to our neighbours, Dillon said. "This gives people the opportunity for fellowship . It's to raise funds but it's more about bringing people together." |