The need for food to feed hungry families is ongoing. To help meet his need, hold a Knights of Columbus Food for Families program to obtain food for local soup kitchens or food pantries.
In order to encourage increased outreach to food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens, the Knights of Columbus will continue to offer financial rebates to Councils that donate food or money. The Supreme Council will again refund $100 for every $500 or 500 pounds of food donated. The maximum refund will be $500 per Council per fraternal year. Indicated contributions of food and/or money should be cumulative for the fraternal year. There is no need to send in a refund request every time a contribution is made, nor does every contribution have to be for at least $500 or 500 pounds of food.
Continue to report Food for Families outreach using the Food for Families report form, found at kofc.org/forms. Also, you must submit documentation that acknowledges receipt of the food by the personnel of the organization that is receiving the donation(s). Councils should report all financial and food donations made in a fraternal year by June 30. Please do not convert your pounds to dollars on the form. For example, if you donated 500 pounds of food, please do not put its dollar equivalent.
Mary’s Meals is a global movement that sets up school feeding projects in some of the world’s poorest communities, where hunger and poverty prevent children from gaining an education. It provides one daily meal in a place of learning to attract chronically poor children into a a classroom where they receive an education that can, in the future, be their ladder out of poverty.
Mary’s Meals began by feeding 200 children in Malawi in 2002. Thanks to supporters, they are feeding 792,621 children every school day.
All Iowa Knights of Columbus are encouraged to either individually and/or through their Council and/or Assembly to support this worthwhile cause.
For more information, please visit http://www.marysmealsusa.org/
Mary's Meals founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, center, visits with Iowa Knights of Columbus leaders during the Iowa Hunger Summit, part of the The World Food Prize events held October 2013.