Five K of C councils were recognized for their witness to the Catholic faith, the family, the community and the culture of life at this year’s Supreme Knight’s Awards Session on Aug. 5. Below are summaries of the award-winning projects, as well as select honors for insurance sales and membership growth.
FAITH
This past March, members of St. Thomas Aquinas Council 15294 at Southeastern Missouri State University organized a weeklong Eucharistic pilgrimage that attracted more than 600 pilgrims. The college Knights spent their spring break traveling across the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau with the Blessed Sacrament, stopping at 22 parishes for all-night adoration, Holy Hours and Eucharistic processions. Bishop Edward Rice of Springfield-Cape Girardeau celebrated Mass at the university’s Newman Center on the last day of the pilgrimage and then led a Eucharistic procession through Cape Girardeau.
FAMILY (tie)
When Jason McMahon of Mason (Mich.) Council 9182 died suddenly in a farm accident last fall, his brother Knights came to his family’s aid, providing help on their farm and funds for immediate expenses. The council went on to raise money for the McMahon children’s education fund. More than 500 people attended a pig roast fundraiser, which began with Mass and included live music, games and a silent auction. The Knights were able to present the McMahons with a check for $30,000, and their project brought the community together in a time of grief.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Council 17913 in Lviv, Ukraine, launched a program to provide material, spiritual and psychological help to children in a foster home in Bortnyky, a village about 40 miles south of Lviv. As part of the project, the council provided all the children with winter jackets, multiseason shoes and food. Even more importantly, the Knights joined them for Mass, prayer and fellowship.
COMMUNITY
For the last seven years, Pope Pius XIII Council 5295 in Narragansett, Rhode Island, has worked with Jacob’s Ladder, an orphanage in Jamaica, to help care for children and adults with disabilities. In that time, the council has sent Jacob’s Ladder seven shipping containers containing adult diapers, clothing and other goods worth more than $200,000, and provided the facility with water heaters, washing machines, golf carts and an aquaponics food production system. The Knights also make an annual mission trip to the orphanage, where they work on construction and repair projects and spend time socializing and praying with residents and staff.
LIFE
Members of Pope St. John XXIII Council 15968 in Spokane, Washington, contributed 450 volunteer hours and $6,500 in support of Maddie’s Place, a clinic that provides a recovery nursery for babies experiencing withdrawal due to prenatal substance exposure, as well as care and housing for their mothers. In response to staff requests, the Knights helped install a large storage shelf in the facility’s attic and held a fundraiser at Assumption Catholic Church to purchase backpacks filled with baby supplies for clients.
*****
Leading general agents: Kevin Pierce of Oklahoma/Kansas (233% of quota) and Hector Lebrón-Sanabria of Puerto Rico (182% of quota)
Leading field agents: Kevin Garza of the Sandoval Agency in California (510% of quota) and James Booritch of the Spinelli Agency in Florida (459% of quota)
Top recruiters: Past State Deputy Walter Streit of Alberta was the top recruiter of 2023-2024 for the Order’s insurance territories, signing up 242 members. Danilo Martinez of Visayas was the top recruiter of the Order’s non-insurance territories, signing up 447 members.







