b'NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATEKnights of Columbus donate Knights of Columbus Donate Coats to Towns County Schoolscoats to Towns County Schools by Jeremy Foster/Towns County Herald Staff Writerraisers throughout each year, including breakfasts and dinners in the church, the pro-ceeds of which go into the or-ganiza-tions general funding.And we donate to charities from that, and we also still sup-port seminarians that are studying to become priests, Harah-and said. But mainly, it is primarily through donations that we are able to achieve this.Boxes (of coats) come in arranged by approximate age. Last year we picked high school, but this year we picked mid-dle school so we can fairly alternate between each group.Grand Knight Graff has been involved with the St. Francis-affi liated council for three years now, but the council has been doing the coat dona-tion program for close to 20 years.This is just a small part of our overall mission, Graff said. We have four founding principles: charity, unity, frater-nity and patriotism.Amy Gibby Rosser is the Towns County Family Con-nection Photo by Lowell Nicholsoncoordinator at Towns County Schools, and she said Family L-R: Rick Graff, Amy Gibby Rosser and Glenn Harahand for the local KnightsConnection has worked with the Knights of Columbus for sev-of Columbus coat donation Nov. 29, 2021.eral years on multiple projects, including the SpecialOlympics.On Monday, Nov. 29, the Knights of Columbus Council 11746This is our second year with the coat drive, and in the past, from St. Francis of As-sisi Catholic Church of Blairs-ville deliv- we have served approxi-mately 200-250 children com-mu-ered winter parkas for six boys and six girls in need to the Familynity-wide for (giving duringthe Christmas season), Gibby Connection Offi ce at Towns County Schools. Rosser said, including cloth-ing and toys, which is about 20% The goal of the Coats for Kids program is to ensure that noof our school population.child in North America goes without a coat during the win-ter(The kids) usually come by a referral basis from parents and season. administration, and we make sure that need is handled. People Throughthededica-tionofKnightsofColumbuscouncilscan sponsor a family/kids or make a monetary dona-tion if across the U.S. and Canada, hundreds of thousands of newthey are inclined to help out for the underprivileged.winter coats have been distributed to children since the pro- Towns County Principal Roy Perren was elated with the coat grams inception. drive, calling it very awe- some and a great thing thathelps Council11746represen-tativesonhandforthedona-tionour students out.were Grand Knight Rick Graff, Deputy Grand Knight Glenn Har- The generosity of our community has always been amazing ahand, and Secretary Ralph Kwiatkowski. through the years, and not only us, but our students re-ally In the United States and Canada, this year so far, we haveappreciate these efforts, Perren said.distributed over 134,000 coats, Kwiatkowski said. Last year,People desiring more in-formation or wanting to contact the lo-due to the pandemic, we only distributed 103,049 coats. Incal Knights of Columbus Council about how to help may email Georgia this year, K of C councils have distributed 4,392 coats.ralphk41@gmail.com or call 706-870-0819. Rosser with Family (Coats for Kids) is al-ways on our calendar for this time of year. Connection may be reached at argibby@town-scountyschools.Harahand said the group raises money using various fund- org or 706-896-4131, ext. 1233.The Church of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin MaryMembers of Terrence Cardinal Cooke Council 8495 of Grovetown spent a day at Georgias oldest Catholic Church removing an old damaged fence from the prop-erty. The Church of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary located in Sharon, Georgia was the birthplace of Catholicism in the State and one of the first in the South. While still under the only Diocese in America, the Diocese of Baltimore, a group of settlers in the late 1790s built a small log cabin church in Locust Grove, which was soon outgrown and a larger frame structure replaced it in 1821. With the rapid growth of Sharon Georgia, two miles away, the church was disassem-bled and moved to Sharon. This church was again replaced in 1883 with a larger building, the current Church of the Purification. Much happened over the 20th century and the church was closed as a Parish. In 2017 work began to restore its status as the Heritage Center for the Purification of the Virgin Mary. Much of the work has been done by volunteers, such as the men from Council 8495. The Her-itage Center, when complete will be the finest Catholic Retreat Center in Georgia and one of the finest in America.85'