Recently the Knights of Columbus St Jude Chapter #12430 from St Jude’s Roman Catholic Church in Blairstown, NJ, conducted a bucket brigade collection campaign for the disabled.
Members of the Knights and their families and friends stood outside of Dale’s Market in Blairstown, the Doghouse in Blairstown, and Dunkin Donuts in Hope, NJ, on the weekend of April 29th and 30th, 2023, collecting spare change and dollar bills from customers into buckets as people came and went to the stores. The total amount collected over both days at the three locations was $2,144.24. The manpower for the event was supplied by 51 Knights from the organization, 5 family members of Knights, and 2 other friends.
After the event was over, the Knights of Columbus Chapter kicked in some extra money out of their treasury to bring the total amount of the donation to $2500. This money was sent to the state, and 10% of it ($250) was given to the Special Olympics of New Jersey organization. The rest ($2250) was put into a check that was presented to The Arc of Warren County, NJ. The check was taken down to the Warren County Arc office in Washington, NJ, and proudly presented to them by Grand Knight John Bryant and collection organizer Joseph Repasky.
“I used to work for The Arc, both in Morris County, NJ, and in Solano County, CA, and so it was my pleasure to organize this effort in support their organization,” said Repasky.
The collection for the disabled is a yearly event organized by the Knights, usually slated for the last weekend in April. “God willing, we’ll be able to do it again next year as well,” said Repasky.
The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic men’s philanthropic fraternal organization. For more information on the Knights, please call St. Jude’s Church at 908-362-6444.
