Knights of Columbus to raise $1 million for seminarians

Money will be collected through council-organized raffles starting this summer

Published: May 30, 2015

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Dwain Hebda

Diocesan seminarians sing after processing into St. Joseph Church in Pine Bluff May 20. Many seminarians were on hand to witness Normal McFall’s ordination to the transitional diaconate.

Dwain Hebda

Diocesan seminarians sing after processing into St. Joseph Church in Pine Bluff May 20. Many seminarians were on hand to witness Normal McFall’s ordination to the transitional diaconate.

By next year, the Diocese of Little Rock seminarians could have a million reasons to be thankful to the Knights of Columbus state council.

At the April 24-26 107th state convention, the knights passed a statewide fundraising resolution to collect $1 million for the Msgr. James E. O’Connell Diocesan Seminarian Fund. The money will primarily be collected through council-organized raffles.

“A $1 million donation will pay for one seminarian for eight years” of education said diocesan vocations director Msgr. Scott Friend, explaining that the endowment funds are “never spent, it’s always invested … and only the interest of it is ever spent.”

“The money will be there until Jesus returns,” he said.

The knight’s fraternal year begins in July, so “God willing,” a check will be written out next summer, said K of C state deputy Adrian Dominguez of Bentonville

“The main reason we’re doing this is we see an increase in vocations in our diocese, thank God,” Dominguez said.

“I know with $41,000 per seminarian per year multiplied by x number of years is a lot of money for one seminarian,” he said. “So we made a commitment to help the seminarian fund. I know throughout the years they’ve been utilizing it and we want to make sure we put another large amount of money into their trust fund so they can continue to do what they need to do to build the kingdom of God in Arkansas.”

Msgr. Friend said the diocese will have 45 seminarians this fall and that an additional $39 million is still needed to pay for the seminarian’s ongoing education.

“When you get a donation that big, that gives me the peace of mind knowing I have money or the resources for the best education for the formation for the priests serving us tomorrow, who will probably be pushing my wheelchair one day,” Msgr. Friend said.

Dominguez said the state council most recently donated $187,000 for the chapel at the Diocese of Little Rock House of Formation.

“It’s a mighty goal,” said Knights state secretary Philip Savage of Charleston. “It’s something I know we can accomplish if everyone comes together.”

And “everyone” includes the 7,500 brother knights who will work hard to raise the money, Savage said.

“This is a fun thing I thought about doing statewide,” Dominguez said of the fundraiser, which he brought to the council’s attention. The commitment fit well with the council’s convention theme, “Building the Kingdom of God in Arkansas.”

“We have a lot of seminarians who are coming up and our program is one of the best in the United States and being able to provide for these young minds that are saying yes to their calling is wonderful,” Dominguez said.