The Knights of Columbus was founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882 in the basement of St. Mary's Catholic Church by Father Michael J. McGivney and a handful of Catholic laymen. The aim of the founder and those first members was to set up a parish-based lay organization that offered insurance benefits. In an era when parish and fraternal societies were popular, Father McGivney felt there should be some way to strengthen the religious faith of his flock and provide financial support for families overwhelmed by illness or the death of the breadwinner.

Today we have grown from that one local unit, or council, to nearly 11,000 councils in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Guam and Saipan.

Membership is nearly 1.6 million dues-paying members plus their families - approximately 4.5 million people total - many of whom are actively involved in volunteer service programs for the Catholic Church, their communities, their families, young people and one another.

In 1996, members reported 48,966,132 hours of volunteer service and $105,976,102 raised and donated to charitable and fraternal projects, including $19,014,276 from the Supreme Council and Knights of Columbus Charities Inc., and $86,961,826 from state and local councils. The monies raised at the state and local levels are expended exclusively for state and local programs.

The early system of fraternal benefits has grown into a top-quality life insurance society, offering a variety of policy plans to members and their families. Both A. M. Best Co. and Standard & Poor's rate K of C insurance "Superior" - A++ and AAA, respectively - their highest designations.

The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest organization of Catholic men and their families, has been called "the strong right arm of the Church," and has been cited by popes, presidents and other world leaders for support of the Church, for programs of evangelization and Catholic education, for civic involvement and aid to those in need.

"Protecting Families for Generations" is a motto that captures the Knights' adherence to the legacy of its founder and fidelity to his vision.

In a word, fraternity. More specifically, the Knights of Columbus offers the Catholic man and his family opportunities for leadership training through active involvement in a local unit, or council; volunteer opportunities in the parish and community; low-cost life insurance; fraternal benefits like college scholarships and student loans for himself, his wife and children; Columbia magazine; and so much more.

Membership in the Knights of Columbus offers the member and his family fellowship with like-minded Catholic families not only in his community or parish, but throughout his state, region, and even internationally.

Being a Knight of Columbus allows a man to offer an added measure of protection to his family. By availing himself of the Order's highly rated and financially sound insurance products, he can protect his family against hard times or an untimely death and provide for the retirement of himself and his spouse.

By getting involved in the variety of volunteer service programs that each local unit or council conducts through the "Surge...with Service" program, he helps protect and defend his family, Church and community against forces hostile to family life, civic values and the Church today.

A lot of groups promise to look out for your best interests, but the Knights of Columbus offers more - it looks after the best interests of society - and you can be a part of it. We've been "Protecting Families for Generations" and we'll continue to do so for generations to come with your support and involvement.

Have you and your family ever watched the telecast of Pope John Paul II's midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on Christmas Eve? Well, the Knights of Columbus is the organization that underwrites the costs of beaming that telecast from the Vatican, and has done so since 1976. Our satellite uplink program covers the costs of uploading the transmission and pays for the downlink in mission countries as well.

Or perhaps you've seen us standing in front of your local shopping mall or grocery store raising funds for programs supporting people with mental retardation.

The Knights of Columbus uses its Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity to gather various facts on the work done by local units. Information collected through the survey includes the amount of money and volunteer hours donated by the Knights of Columbus to charitable and benevolent causes. In 1996, Knights Order wide raised and distributed $105,976,102 to charitable and benevolent programs and volunteered 48,966,132 hours of time.

These totals - the highest in the Order's history - are based on reports received from most Knights of Columbus councils, Fourth Degree assemblies, Columbian Squires circles and other jurisdictional entities responding to the survey. Over the past 10 years, the Knights of Columbus has volunteered more than 397 million hours of service and donated over $945 million to charity.

On a local level, if your community has an active K of C council, you'll find many ways that Knights are involved: running youth religious education programs, delivering Communion to homebound and elderly shut-ins, painting classrooms in Catholic schools, volunteering at Special Olympics events or tending a community garden. We collect used eyeglasses for needy people at home and around the world. We put new roofs on senior citizens' homes and write letters to young men studying for the priesthood.

What we do at the local level is pretty much left up to the Knights in the local community. If they see a problem that they think they can muster the resources to solve, they attack it. No programs are mandated by the international headquarters, or Supreme Council office, in New Haven, Connecticut. No funds raised at the local level are sent to the Supreme Council, either. All funds raised stay at the local level, helping causes local Knights want to help. The principal areas of volunteer involvement through our "Surge...with Service" program can be broken down into the following categories: Church, Community, Council, Family and Youth.