Editing Knights of Columbus (section)

== Charitable giving ==
{{main|Charitable activities of the Knights of Columbus}}

Charity is the foremost important principle of the Knights of Columbus.<ref name="LeRouxFeeney2014" /><ref name="McGrath2010" /> At their 2024 convention in August, 2024, Supreme Knight [[Patrick E. Kelly|Patrick Kelly]] said that the organization had donated $190{{nbsp}}million and 47{{nbsp}}million volunteer-hours toward charity projects in 2023.<ref name="columbia_2024report" /> Charitable activities include support for refugees, aid for victims of natural disasters, and advocating [[Catholic ethics]], such as [[Catholic Church and same-sex marriage|opposition to same-sex marriage]] and [[Catholic Church and abortion|opposition to abortion]].

Beginning in 1897, the National Council encouraged local councils to establish funds to support members affected by the [[Panic of 1893|1890s depression]].{{sfn|Kauffman|1982|p=127}} Councils also offered employment agency services and provided aid to the poor and sick.{{sfn|Kauffman|1982|p=166-7, 428, 320}} Aid has also been dispensed to assist victims of natural and man-made disasters, starting with a flood in Kansas in 1903.{{sfn|Kauffman|1982|p=161}}<ref name="tampa" /> In 2015 alone, the order donated hundreds of thousands of US dollars to victims of typhoons and other natural disasters.<ref name="financial" />

During times of war, the Order supports aid to refugees. Between 2014 and 2018, the Knights gave more than $2{{nbsp}}million to provide food, shelter, clothing, and medical care to persecuted [[Christianity in the Middle East|Christians]] and [[Religion in the Middle East#Non-Abrahamic monotheistic faith|other religious minorities]] in the Middle East.<ref name="ceo" /><ref name="financial" /> The Knights donated $250,000 in 2018 to help refugees crossing over the [[Mexico–United States border]] who were seeking asylum in the United States and later expanded the program.<ref name="garcia" /> Within days of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the 2,000 Knights of Columbus in the country worked to help those impacted.<ref name="telli" /> They began by providing food and clothing to those at train and bus stations in Lviv who were fleeing into Poland.<ref name="telli" /> They then began organizing busses to take people the Polish border.<ref name="telli" /> In the first three months of the war, the Knights in Poland helped more than 300,000 people, or 10% of those who fled to that country.<ref name="telli" /> Since the start of the war, the Knights of Columbus have delivered more than 8.5 million pounds of relief supplies and provided more than $17{{nbsp}}million for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.<ref name="columbia_2024report" />

The Knights of Columbus has donated more than $600 million to those with intellectual and physical disabilities.<ref name="so" /> One of the largest recipients of aid in this area has been the [[Special Olympics]], where the Knights have been involved since the first games in 1968.<ref name="so" /> In 2023, the Knights donated more than $4 million to Special Olympics and helped organize and run nearly 4,000 competitions.<ref name="columbia_2024report" />

After the Knights had donated more than 1,000 ultrasound machines to [[crisis pregnancy center]]s from 2009 to 2019, Anderson said, "Our ultrasound initiative is now the greatest humanitarian achievement in the history of the Knights of Columbus. ... We can, and I am confident that we will, save millions of unborn lives."<ref name="Klemond" /> Following the United States Supreme Court decision in ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'', Supreme Knight [[Patrick E. Kelly]] called on the order to increase their support for women facing unplanned and crisis pregnancies with the Aid and Support After Pregnancy (ASAP) initiative.<ref name="top" />

The Global Wheelchair Mission is an alliance of independent international organizations working to deliver wheelchairs and mobility assistance to people worldwide. In 2023, the Knights provided more than 11,000 wheelchairs to the Global Wheelchair Mission.<ref>{{cite web| title=Global Wheelchair Mission |url=https://www.kofc.org/en/what-we-do/faith-in-action-programs/community/global-wheelchair-mission.html |website=kofc.org|access-date=November 12, 2024}}</ref><ref name="columbia_2024report" />

The Knights also donate to the institutional church, including being a major donor to the [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]]<ref name="financial" /> and the [[Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops]].{{sfn|Kauffman|1982|p=421}} {{As of|2017}}, the Knights' ''Vicarius Christi'' fund has contributed more than $57 million to the charitable efforts of the pope.<ref name="meets" /> The Knights have supported the Vatican's news operation for decades.<ref name="financial" />

In the field of education, the Knights of Columbus have a number of scholarships and other programs for seminarians, veterans{{sfn|Sweany|1923|p=3}} and students at the [[Catholic University of America]],<ref name="Pike" />{{sfn|Sweany|1923|p=1}} and at other Catholic colleges. Especially during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], the Order operated a number of "huts" to support troops serving in combat, regardless of race or religion.{{sfn|Sweany|1923|p=3}}<ref name="scott" />{{sfn|Kauffman|1982|p=343}}