Brother Knights
I would like to thank the council for giving me the opportunity and privilege of serving for the next year.
During the next 12 months we will face many challenges as well as many opportunities to move our Council forward in a new direction. I will need the help and support of many of our members in order to achieve this goal. My thank you, goes out to Good Shepard parish for allowing us hold our monthly meetings there.
Supreme as well as State officers have told us the revised direction of the K of C is to serve as an arm of the Parish priest within a Parish. It seems that they want each Parish, where possible, to have an active K of C within the Parish. Our Council draws members from many parishes on the south side. There in lies our challenge.
The returns to date from our Cross and Compass survey tells us our members want another building with a possible bar facility. The Reality Board is currently moving in that direction. Our question is? Can we do both….
Currently there are roughly 56 councils that have buildings in the state. The average age of a member in our state is 59. In our council the average age of a member is close to 70.
About one third of our membership is honorary/lifetime members over 70.
If we look at the four tenants of our order, Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism, in my opinion having a building strengthens our ability for Charity and Fraternity.
Having a building gives us additional opportunities to build our fraternity as well as additional opportunities to hold functions for charitable events. Our council has a long history of supporting a variety of charitable events. I would like to see that continue.
With that being said, if we have a building it will have to be one that can be self supporting with a business plan that will generate enough revenue to assure this will happen. We can not allow a new building to once again drain our assets.
As I see it, our goals for the next 12 months should be as follows:
- Complete relocation
- Increase membership
- Renew membership participation
- Renew Council functions
- Increase community awareness of our Council
I will need the support and input from many members if we are to achieve this. I am always open for help and suggestions by phone, email or in person..
Respectfully submitted
John Hasty
Grand Knight
