The Knights of Columbus is the world's fastest growing and largest lay Catholic organization with over one and half million members. The Knights are dedicated to the ideals of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.  If you want to get to know other Catholic families that are committed to their faith then the Knights is for you. Members and their families are eligible for insurance and scholarship benefits. Our local council #5568, named after Fr. Michael Potter, was established in 1964 and currently has over 130 members. We offer a full array of programs that support family, community and church. We offer Catholic Information services and Faith Exploration. Participation in any program is never mandatory. Our local Knights sponsor family events such as the St. Hedwig Family night at the Angel game, St. Hedwig picnic, dining under the stars, and children's Christmas party. These efforts are aimed at supporting a greater sense of faith and parish community. We support our priests, seminarians, pro-life organizations, St. Hedwig School, Youth Ministry, School of Religious Education and charities such as the Disabled Children/ MR drive. We do this through family friendly fundraisers such as the pancake breakfasts, Italian dinners, and fish frys. Membership is open to men over the age of 18 who are practicing Catholics.  For more information please call the Rectory office.   History of Knights of Columbus In October of 1881, a young priest named Father Michael J. McGivney called together a small group of men to meet in the basement of St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut. His purpose was to help Catholic men remain steadfast in their faith, promote closer ties of fraternity among them, and set up a system that would help fellow members and their families in times of hardships. These men of this fledgling organization, were chartered on March 29, 1882 to be known as the 'Knights of Columbus'. Like the Knights of Yore, the organization embodied the ideas of spirituality and service to Church, country and fellow man. Today, the Knights of Columbus has blossomed into an international society of more than 1.60 million Catholic men in some 8,500 councils who have dedicated themselves to these basic ideas: Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. The framework of our great organization is that we are a "Catholic, family, fraternal, service organization".  This theme permeates the entire Service Program: all church, community, council, family and youth activities.  Catholic is the common denominator for all our members.  Catholicism serves as the foundation for continued growth for our faith in God.  Family is the very basis of society around which all our programs and activities evolve. Fraternity means banding together for the purpose of providing for spiritual and material welfare of our membership.  Service means our involvement with and commitment to Church, community, council, family and youth. Through the years we have dedicated ourselves to God's calling.  We become involved and participate in what is taking place in the world around each and every one of us.  Conditions of present life require that we participate in shaping social issues and political issues, from speaking for the unborn to lending our hands to the less fortunate, and from making our society a place where there is more justice to where there is more love.  The challenge to the Knights is trying to see where God is asking us to go and in what direction to move.  By becoming a Knight you can be an added voice, a helping hand to humankind, a sign to someone less fortunate - that God truly loves and cares for them.