Four Knights from Council 11369 participated in a modified Christmas version of the Andy Skrobola Memorial Food Drive at the St Michael Family Life Center in Canfield on December 22 from 9am to 11am.

About 50 families were notified of the event; unfortunately, only about 15 came.

Others may have stopped in at a Saturday December 19 similar event at the Covelli Centre, sponsored by Gleaner’s Food Bank.

Gleaners provided milk and other fresh items for our giveaway, and the council and the Canfield Lions Club worked together to hand out $100 Rulli Brothers Market certificates.

Names of Canfield School District residents in need and participants in Judge John Durkin’s Mental Health and Recovery Program were informed of the food giveaway.

The program had to be modified due to COVID-19.

We thank the Canfield Lions Club for their fundraising effort and for matching the $50 our council was offering in vouchers, with their generous $2500 donation.

Thanks to Joe Lordi with Gleaners and his lifetime of dedication to feeding the hungry in the Youngstown area.

And thanks to Brother Miros Maszczak for all his efforts in putting this event together.

The council also purchased 180 hams for distribution to several non-profit agencies for Christmas, obtaining the hams for a discounted 99-cents a pound from Fresh Mark.

The hams went to St Vincent dePaul Society, the Beatitude House, Our Community Kitchen, Dorothy Day House, the Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, and St Paul Monastery.

We hope for a more normal food drive in 2021, carrying on with Andy Skrobola’s wishes for an event involving several organizations, combined with an event involving food and not just money handouts.

About ten brother Knights helped the Mahoning County Veteran’s Service Commission and Gleaner’s Food Bank distribute Thanksgiving food items to over a thousand families at the Canfield Fairgrounds on Saturday November 21.

The used COVID-19 precautions, with everyone masked and trying to keep their distances.

Food recipients drove through the fairgrounds, with no need for them to exit their vehicles.

The Knights were happy to be part of this effort, with the inability to carry on the annual Andy Skrobola Food Drive in the usual way.

Father Michael McGivney,  Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Church, New Haven, CT, formed the Knights of Columbus in 1882 out of concern for his Parish’s families and their futures.  He saw the need for a mutual aid society to provide for families when so many fathers and husbands fell ill, were injured or died under the difficult conditions of the time.  Wives, mothers and children then had no further means of support.  Father McGivney gathered the men of his Parish to form the Knights of Columbus, and together they began benefit programs to care for their families.

Since 1882, the Knights of Columbus have provided insurance and other benefits for our members and our families.  Since 1882, the Knights of Columbus have stood for charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.

The Knights of Columbus Conklin Agency,  Cranberry, PA, serving Councils in greater Pittsburgh, PA and eastern Ohio,  is sponsoring  two upcoming Insurance Benefit Nights.  These programs will be free virtual events presented by guest speaker Tom Hegna.  He is an award-winning author, speaker and economist.  He is considered by many as the “Retirement Income Expert”. 

Your local Knights of Columbus Council 11369, serving St. Michael Parish and Society of St. Paul Monastery,  invites all Catholics, all parishioners and all Brother Knights to register for one of these events.  Listed below are the scheduled Insurance Benefit Night dates, times and respective registration links. All attendees must register and provide the requested information. You may attend either event, but please register for one event only.

Pennsylvania Thursday October 15, 2020 at 06:30pm

Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pM4msBDeRAC2_LL2TEPirA

Ohio Wednesday October 21, 2020 at 07:30pm

Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QkSMgMxcTuePGUZvlkllfw

Please spend an hour with Tom Hegna to educate yourself about the importance of retirement planning.  His program benefits those working toward retirement and also those who have retired already.  If you have any questions, please contact David W. Roberts, Knights of Columbus Field Agent, at (330) 614-2063 or david.roberts@kofc.org.  To have either link e-mailed to you, please contact Victor Buente, Council 11369, by e-mail at vobuente@gmail.com, or by telephone or text at (330)509-5887.

Knights of Columbus 11369 members were able to see a large money donation in action recently: a new ultrasound machine at the Bella Women’s Center on North River Road NE in Howland Twp.

The center received the new 3D/4D machine on August 3, and some of our brothers checked it out a few weeks later.

Local Knights councils spent $22,000 for the machine, and council 11369 contributed $8,660 of that total.

Tia Ciferno, executive director of the Bella Women’s Center was overjoyed with the new ultrasound unit.

We talked about the possibility of starting a fundraiser for a second machine.

God bless Bella and the work they do in saving babies.

Started in 2009, the Ultrasound Initiative is a staple of the Faith In Action Program developed by the Knights of Columbus order.

These 3D/4D color Ultrasound units save lives by helping women choose life by giving them the opportunity to view their unborn babies in three-dimensional accurate color detailed photos.

When working with abortion-minded clients, it’s critical to have the most accurate ultrasound machine available.

This service is fundamental to our principle of unity.

And nowhere is our commitment more obvious and today more important than in our stand for the sanctity of unborn life.

Without a doubt, The Knights are one of the strongest voices for life in the world.

But we are not done.

We will not rest while so many children’s lives are still at stake.

Let us continue this great work so that every community will have access to life-saving ultrasound services. We can, and we will, continue to save millions of unborn lives.

The Knights of Columbus through countless acts of charity, affirms the dignity of every person, from conception to natural death.

On Saturday, September 12, 2020, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Priests for Life and the Pro-Life Action League co-sponsored the 8th Annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, calling on pro-life Americans to honor the gravesites of our aborted brothers and sisters.

In honor of this day, members of the Knights of Columbus ‘Fathers Borrano/Gallagher Council 11369’ held a solemn prayer service at the Unborn Memorial located at St. Paul’s Monastery in Ellsworth Twp., Mahoning County, Ohio.

Council Chaplain Fr. Matthew Roehrig led four Pauline religious brothers and six council members in prayer for unborn and aborted children.

We gathered to remind our community that the lives of these children matter, and that the loss of these children is a loss to us all.

We gather to resolve not to just fight abortion but to end it.

We will stop at no sacrifice and count no cost in defending the unborn.

The Knights of Columbus remain firmly committed to defending the right to life of every human being from the moment of conception to natural death.

Council 11369 members commit themselves to maintaining this site and pray that it will provide a place where those who have lost their children may mourn and find comfort.

We ask our Lord to watch over this memorial site and all who visit and pray that this sacred place serves as witness to the humanity of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Seminarian William Wainio and now-Father Matthew Humerickhouse.

August 8 was an exciting day for Catholics in the Youngstown Diocese, and Council 11369 is proud to be an integral part of it.

Three seminarians were ordained as Catholic priests at St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown, with Bishop Martin Amos emeritus of the Diocese of Davenport Iowa presiding.

They are Ryan Furlong, Matthew Humerickhouse and Matt Zwilling.

And Father Humerickhouse is one of out ‘adopted’ seminarians.

The council donated $1,000 each to Father Humerickhouse and Seminarian William Wainio as part of the order’s RSVP program, or Refund Support Vocation Program.

We are proud of our seminarians and the sacrifices they are making to grow the Faith.

Matthew Humerickhouse

Father Matthew Humerickhouse grew up in Jackson Township outside Canton.

He and his family attended St Michael the Archangel Church there.

Father Mathew graduated from Walsh University in North Canton and attended graduate classes there and at Franciscan University in Steubenville.

Father Matt worked for Buckeye Protective Services in security and Mark’s Inc., a construction firm for a time.

Then he decided he wanted to enter the priesthood.

He was accepted at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Cincinnati.

Father Matt completed his seminary studies at St. Mary Seminary in Wickliffe.

His summer and pastoral year assignments consisted of: St. Joan of Arc, Streetsboro, St. Joseph, Massillon, and St. Christine, Youngstown.

William Wainio

Our returning “adopted” seminarian is William Wainio from Boardman.

His home parish is St Angela Merici.

Bill is 26-years-old and graduated in 2011 from Ursuline High School in Youngstown.

He attended Youngstown State University for five years.

He finished his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy at John Carroll University in May of 2019 and is continuing his education at St Mary Seminary and Graduate School.

His hobbies include listening to and playing music, especially playing the piano.

He enjoys art, and handmaking silk screened cards for Christmas and other holidays.

Bill loves being outdoors especially among nature, so he takes to camping, hiking, biking, etc.

He loves spending time with family and friends.

Bill is a 4th degree Knight.

His uncle Thomas Wainio lives in Canfield and is a member of Council 11369.

The Knights of Columbus Refund Support Vocation Program (RSVP), keeps the faith alive by
supporting our seminarians and postulants.

As the strong right arm of the church, Knights of Columbus are committed to providing moral, financial and spiritual support to our future priests and religious at all stages of their formation.

Though financial support is vitally important, it is not the only aspect of the RSVP program.

Councils are also called to provide their “adopted” seminarian or religious with moral support and prayers for their success.

The Ordination Ceremony will be rebroadcast on the Ecumenical Television Channel (ETC) by the Catholic Television Network of Youngstown (CTNY) on Aug 11 at 11:00 am and 8:30 pm and again on Aug 13 at 11:00 am and 8:30 pm.

FINALLY, the 2020 Cash Bonanza Charity Raffle sales campaign has ended in Ohio, after starting in February!

The deadline has passed to turn in additional tickets, and our council sold another 34.

That makes for a total of 1,169 tickets sold for the 2020 campaign.

The drawing is on June 27th.

We will net over $4,000 from this campaign.

You’ll recall from the last post that the council needed to purchase tickets in order to make out goal of selling 1,130 tickets.

More information later.

Great work Brothers!

The last day to turn in ticket stubs and money for the Cash Bonanza Raffle is June 10th.

Please call Jim K at 330 507-7427.

The May 2020 meeting of Council 11369 will be a virtual meeting.

It’s May 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Just click this link to join by Zoom. (here the web address: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86443498877)

Father Matthew is leading us in the saying of the Rosary every Wednesday night at 7, using the Meeting app.

(Here’s the link to that: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81847962696?pwd=MVlYa2g2bitUN2hISUlybCs2cDI2UT09)