I came to Florida to work with Franklin Templeton Investments back in 2006. At that time I was on my own with no family in the area. I knew that God was important to me and I wanted to find ways to better grow toward Him.
I participated in the Fall Harvest Festival for Saint Mary's church in November 2006 and the event was a great success. During the event, I was approached by a man named Don who asked if I had ever considered becoming a Knight.
Having little knowledge of the organization based on my memories in Pennsylvania, I decided to join as I was looking for more opportunities to get involved with charity.
The Knights of Columbus began in 1881 in the basement of St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Father Michael McGivney brought a group of men together to K of C is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization.
Since then, I have helped raise money for the Knights that has gone toward seminarians, distressed brothers, the handicapped, and the church.
Most of these events are not glamorous and are things that the majority of people would not be interested in doing.
I have served the Knights by standing outside of churches and Publix, by hosting dinners and pancake breakfasts, providing meals at Pinellas Hope, working the Papa Johns pizza booth at Tropicana Field, and taking an officer role in Council 2105 to provide input for how we could better serve the community.
There are 14,000 councils and 1.8 million members throughout the world.
I am currently the Deputy Grand Knight and have been nominated for Grand Knight this coming year.
I am greatful for all that I have been able to do with this organization and I encourage anybody at Saint Raphael who is interested in charity to join.
If you're interested: If you would like join the Knights of Columbus, send an e-mail to Andrew Wargo at wargocc83@hotmail.com
