In addition to a recent donation of $1,000 to the Back the Cat campaign, to bring a CT scanner to the Quinte Health-North Hastings Hospital, the Bancroft chapter of the Knights of Columbus also donated $500 to the Bancroft Pregnancy Care Centre and $500 to the North Hastings Community Cupboard back on March 22. An additional $500 in No Frills/PC gift cards were purchased from the BPCC to give to the NHCC. Peter Penlington, Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus North Hastings Divine Mercy Council #7476, and Monica Piercey, executive director of the NHCC comment on these donations.

Penlington tells The Bancroft Times that the Knights of Columbus was formed over 100 years ago, in 1882, by a priest named Father Michael J. McGivney in the Connecticut area to help widows with families who had lost their husbands to workplace accidents. This giving back to local communities and churches to help people continues this charitable tradition to this day.

Penlington says the Knights of Columbus have been doing Christmas tree sales over the past three years to give the proceeds to local charities.

“The pregnancy centre and the North Hastings Community Cupboard have been two of our main recipients from these profits since we starting doing the Christmas trees. And then we had some extra money there too, so that’s why we also gave $1,000 to Back the Cat,” he says.

Penlington says he learned that part of the pregnancy centre’s fundraising was selling gift cards from No Frills and Foodland.

“So instead of giving just a cheque to the North Hastings Community Cupboard, we bought the No Frills gift cards from the pregnancy centre so they also get a portion of that. It’s a win-win situation,” he says.

What’s nice about these two charities, according to Penlington, is that aside from fulfilling great needs within the local community, they also naturally fit with Knights of Columbus core values about charity, family, faith, and helping out where you can.

“So what happened with the pregnancy centre, I was able to do an application to the head office of the Knights of Columbus [in Connecticut] through their Aid and Support after Pregnancy program and they’re going to donate $100 to the pregnancy centre as well,” he says.

Piercey says that the NHCC has been very fortunate over the years to have supporters such as the Knights of Columbus, who recently gave them $500 in No Frills/PC gift cards presented by Penlington.

“[It] really helps us purchase much needed food supplies for distribution at the food bank in hampers and sometimes for our hot meal program. What we appreciate about the No Frills/PC gift card donation from Knights of Columbus is the fact that the cards are purchased through the [Bancroft] Pregnancy Care Centre and also supports their work, so in effect, two local agencies are being assisted. It’s also important to note that rising food costs, almost double on some items in the last year, as well as increases in all other overhead costs to run an organization are posing great difficulty for us to meet demand,” she says. “So, all donations are extremely appreciated at this time.”

Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Bancroft Times