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Giving
Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus Grand Knight John D. Ryan gave blood during a recent Red Cross blood drive held at St. Mary Church of the Visitation. Photo by David G. Lamontagne Sr.
PUTNAM — Over the last five months, Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus, has collected 89 pints of blood for the Connecticut Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The Catholic family fraternal group recently sponsored its third and final blood drive of 2020.
The blood drives were the brainchild of Cargill Council 64 Brother Knight David G. Lamontagne Sr. Lamontagne, a Past Grand Knight, serves today as both Cargill Council’s Health Director and its District Deputy.
Now that the Putnam program has proven successful, Cargill Council has committed to hosting at least four blood drives at St. Mary’s in 2021. The next one will be held on Feb. 19. Go to www.redcrossblood.org to sign up today.
By hosting blood drives, Cargill Council is carrying on a tradition started by the worldwide Knights of Columbus organization more than 80 years ago. In 1938, the K of C was the first national organization to sponsor a blood donor program.
The program quickly caught on. By the end of 1939, more than 400 local councils had blood donor groups. During World War II, councils ramped up blood drives, joining the Red Cross campaign for 100,000 blood donations to benefit soldiers and air raid victims. Today, Knights of Columbus blood drives collect an average of more than 400,000 pints of blood annually.
Lamontagne understands that blood donors are critical to saving lives and protecting health.
“If one of these blood donations helps save a life, then we all have done our part. I cannot thank everyone enough, from the donors, to my fellow Brother Knights for their help and the Red Cross for all their hard work,” he said.
Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus, is made up of over 200 local Catholic men and their families. The council serves Putnam, Pomfret, Thompson and Woodstock and the immediately surrounding areas served by St. Mary’s, Most Holy Trinity Church in Pomfret, St. Joseph Church in North Grosvenordale and St. Stephen Church in Quinebaug. It’s one of 178 active local councils in Connecticut.
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