After years of raising funds in their still continuing program of assistance to all families in need in the Bayshore, the Reverend Joseph Donnelly Council of the Knights of Columbus are now asking for help to help finance repairs and updates on both Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Agnes churches, especially the stained glass windows.
The Knights of Columbus, an international organization of men dedicated to using their time, talent and treasure to support the work of their parish, raised and provided more than $15,000 in assistance to help families in need in the past three years, and noted there are areas in the parish facilities which span both Highlands and Atlantic Highlands that are in need of immediate repair and or preservation.
Stained Glass
They have raised funds in the past to take care of essential maintenance projects and are now reaching out to the community to support a new project that includes painting and repairing the stained-glass windows in both churches.
In their effort to raise funds, the Knights are asking for donations of any amount, and in return, will enter donors in a drawing for a $1,000 gift certificate provided by the Knights themselves. The drawing will be held at the annual Parish Picnic in September.
Persons wishing to make donations for this stained glass project project can send checks made out to OLPH-ST Agnes Parish with a notation the funds are for the Parish Assistance Fund. Donations can be dropped off or mailed to the parish office at 103 Venter Avenue. Atlantic Highlands, or placed in a basket at any mass, with a notation on the envelope the funds are for the Parish Assistance Fund.
“We have been blessed to have received our beautiful churches and facilities from the families and parishioners who have gone before us,” said Michael Napolitano, Grand Knight of the Rev. Joseph Donnelly 1160 Council. “We must be good stewards of these gifts and keep them in good order.” The Grand Knight also reiterated the belief of the entire council that parishioners and local residents will respond to this call for support in light of the role one or both of the churches has played in the lives of so many residents and summer visitors to the Bayshore.
John Flynn, a past Grand Knight of the Council, as well as a Fourth Degree Knight, is in charge of this news Parish Assistance Fund. For further information on this program, all the Knights of Columbus do for the residents of both boroughs, or to learn more about becoming a Knight of Columbus, contact Flynn at captflynn@verizon.net or call him at 732-513-0196.
The Knights were founded in 1882 by Blessed Michael McGivney, a Connecticut priest who had a vision of a group of men supporting each other and providing for their families. For more than 1325 years, the individual councils of the international Knights have turned this vision into reality, men, working together in Christian charity, using their time, talent and efforts to support all work in a parish, a legacy they continue on a daily basis.
The Rev. Joseph Donnelly Council began at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in 1995 when a group of 20 men met as Knights for their first corporate communion. The council was named after the long-time deceased pastor of the church, who served from 1947 until his death in 1961.
