Works of Mercy

June 1, 2026

Throughout North America, local councils welcome and assist migrant families in their communities

By Elisha Valladares-Cormier

June 1, 2026

Gordon Shellhaas and Servidora Sister Maria de Talpa Vargas Espinoza unload a food shipment at St. Michael Parish in Wauchula. — Grand Knight Gordon Shellhaas of Sts. Cosmas and Damian Council 13341 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., and Servidora Sister Maria de Talpa Vargas Espinoza unload a food shipment at St. Michael Parish’s food distribution center in Wauchula. (Photo by Mark Taylor)

Migrant families often arrive in the United States and Canada with little, if any, support infrastructure in their new communities. For farmworkers, long and irregular work hours, along with seasonal employment, can make it difficult to connect with schools and churches. Rising living costs can also create a financial burden that leads quickly to food insecurity.

Recognizing the needs of these families, Knights of Columbus councils remain ready to help them adapt to their new communities. Their outreach, inspired by Father Michael McGivney’s ministry to immigrants, reflects Christ’s command to feed and clothe the stranger, remembering that “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:35).

Hardee County, in central Florida, is about 42% Hispanic, including many migrant farmworkers, and is one of the poorest counties in the state. Sts. Cosmas and Damian Council 13341 in Lakewood Ranch has partnered with St. Michael Parish in Wauchula to support the parish’s religious education program, and Knights travel to the parish each week to help deliver as much as 15,000 pounds of food for its food bank.

Knights from Our Lady of the Valley Council 10889 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, deliver refurbished bicycles to migrant workers at a local farm. (Photo by Sandra Leung / Yaletown Photography + Film)

“Ninety percent of the parishioners are either migrant or first-generation migrant workers,” Grand Knight Gordon Shellhaas estimated. “Many of our charitable works … don’t necessarily have a local focus. In this parish, it’s a local cause with a local face, and I think everybody feels good about that.”

A common challenge for migrant families is a lack of transportation. Since 2023, members of Our Lady of the Valley Council 10889 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, have supported a community initiative to collect and donate used bicycles to farmworkers.

“The workers have to get to the fields and back home, and pick up groceries,” said Financial Secretary Wayne Turner. “They’re here for a reason. They work hard and want to get a better life for their families. We’re just people helping people.”

In 2023, Massachusetts’ “Right to Shelter” law led to about 30 immigrant families from Haiti and Latin America arriving in Westminster, despite vocal opposition from some local residents. In response, members of St. Edward the Confessor Council 15972 organized monthly meals at the parish, giving the new arrivals a chance to gather beyond the small motel rooms where they were housed.

Jack McCarthy (right) of St. Edward the Confessor Council 15972 in Westminster, Mass., and others cook dinner for 30 migrant families from South America and the Caribbean. — Financial Secretary Jack McCarthy (right) of St. Edward the Confessor Council 15972 in Westminster, Mass., and others cook dinner for 30 migrant families from South America and the Caribbean living in a local motel. (Photo courtesy of Jack McCarthy)

“As a Catholic, the whole ‘love your neighbor’ theme is at the center of my heart, and I didn’t understand the negative welcome,” said Financial Secretary Jack McCarthy, whose wife, Kathy, began English as a Second Language classes for the families. “Helping these families is one of the proudest things I’ve ever been involved with as a Knight.”

The councils also provide opportunities for spiritual growth to workers and their families by facilitating Masses and church dinners, providing K of C-branded rosaries, and distributing Spanish-language booklets from the Order’s Catholic Information Service.

“These are hardworking, very spiritual people,” said Turner. “We might not speak Spanish, but it’s the same spiritual language. They know where the love is coming from.”

*****

ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER is senior editor of Columbia and a member of Fremont (Ohio) Council 591.

California farmworkers, or campesinos, work in a lettuce field near El Centro, outside Brawley, in March 2014.

Works of Mercy

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