The Keshena Knights of Columbus served nearly 350 meals during its annual Thanksgiving dinner last month.
The St. Kateri Tekakwitha Council 12185 Elmo Novelli and Alvin J. Rathsack Memorial Thanksgiving Dinner served 176 dinner meals and another 166 carryouts, said Grand Knight Paul Marroquin.
“Throughout the years, we have never had to turn anyone away,” he said. “No one has left hungry. We can give thanks for what we have by helping those less fortunate.”
Marroquin said the meals were served due to the generous contributions from the community.
“For the last 20 years, there are very clear choices that we Knights and Lady Knights and community members (make) when we decide to put our communities and families first,” Marroquin said.
Knights of Columbus Council 12185 is a Catholic fraternal service organization that supports local charities and communities through various fundraising events and community outreach. Beneficiaries include the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, food pantries, and community members during special dinners at Mother’s Day and Thanksgiving.
Tekakwitha was the first Native American to be canonized into the Catholic Church. Of Mohawk and Algonquin descent, she lived from 1656-80.
She is known for her devotion to Jesus Christ, refusal of marriage, hard work ethic and dedicated prayer for the conversion of faith for her fellow Native people and for the care of God’s natural creation on Earth.
Born in present-day New York, she contracted smallpox in an epidemic, and her family died.
She converted to Catholicism at age 19. She took a vow of perpetual virginity, left her village and moved for the remaining five years of her life to a Jesuit mission village south of Montreal.
She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
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