We love our volunteers and the more hands we have, the faster things get done and the more we can do for our Parish, our Community, and those who are in need. So, roll up your sleeves and contact the Council to lend a helping hand.
. Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities
. Upcoming Volunteer Oppuortunities
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Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities
The Knights volunteer at Delta Bingo in Pickering on an ongoing basis. This is one of our big fundraising activities and our Worthy Bingo Director is always looking for more volunteers to lighten the load and to provide backup when one of the regular volunteers is not available for their scheduled session. The Knights act as greeters as Bingo players enter the Hall. Please consider this worthy activity and contact Sir Bob Bawcutt directly or send an email to [email protected].
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Upcoming Volunteer Oppuortunities…
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Come back for future announcements…..
ALL SAINTS PARTY – NOV 3
Per our posted council activities for November, this Sunday will be St. Bernadette’s
All Saints Party event that our council supports every year by providing volunteer support during the event.
What you need to know….
Where: St. Bernadette’s Parish Hall
When : Sunday Nov 3rd from 2pm-4pm
# of Volunteer Knights Needed: at least six (6)
What you will do:>> from 1pm-2pm Help setup tables, chairs & assist in activity setup where needed>> from 2pm-4pm Run various activities, as directed by Cathy Haynes (main organizer) or Brother Knight Tim Haynes>> from 4pm-5pm Help put away tables & chair, general cleanupPlease advise if you can assist by emailing Sir Adam ([email protected]) as he is the Family Director and copy me as well please ([email protected]). Sir Joe and I will be attending a Uni Degree ceremony with three of our council’s new Brother Knights in Oshawa that day, from 12:30 to 2pm, but we should be back by 2:30pm to give a hand.
Vivat Jesus, GK Sir Ron
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FREE THROW PROGRAM – NOV
To all Council’s Brother Knights,
After a six year hiatus, our council is excited to run the Basketball Free Throw Competition once again, joining all the other councils in district 90 (Durham) who have their Free Throw programs up & running. For those of you unfamiliar with the program, it is a fun competition, done right in each local primary school gym, to encourage kids from ages 9 to 13 to engage in friendly competition. The program is run throughout Ontario by the Knights of Columbus.
How are the Knights involved? 1) Run the administration of the program (Grand Knight & Community Director)2) Have Brother volunteers (2 per basketball volunteers per hoop) that record the number of successful free throws for each participating student, and keep the flow going (returning thrown basketballs back to the contestant to save time). We run 4 hoop areas per session (hence 4 X 2 = 8, plus Sir John & I for session administration).
Number of Brother volunteers needed: We need a minimum of 10 Brother Knights (including Sir John & myself) to make this work.
Your commitment as a volunteer:1) Six (6) weekday competitions in January 2025, approximately 3 hours per competition2) One (1) weekend day finals competition in January 2025,
approximately 3-4 hours
Mandatory requirements for each Brother volunteer:
1) To have read & signed the Ontario Abuse Protocol Policy (the one I circulated during the September membership meeting)
2) A background check done by our local Durham police. These are done online (I can show Brother Knights how to do it) and require 4 weeks to process as the certificate is mailed to you (no option to pick up at the [police station). Your cost ($21) will be reimbursed by the council.
Timing:Unfortunately we are about one month behind schedule (yes, that was my bad for not starting this process in September!) at this stage which is why I am asking for your help now instead of waiting for our November membership meeting. If we don’t have a minimum of 10 volunteers committed to this event by November 15th, we will need to consider postponing our involvement until next year and that would be unfortunate for the three Durham region schools (St. Bernadettes, St, James & St. Teresa of Calcutta).
Please email me directly ([email protected]) if you are interested in being part of this worthwhile and fulfilling program working with our local schools and kids. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to email or call me (905-619-9753).
Looking forward to hearing from you!
GK Brother Ron
St. Bernadette’s Council 10236
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LIFE CHAIN – OCT 6
Reaching out to our Brother Knights because this will be the first time our Council is providing refreshments to our parishioners after the Life Chain event. And we can even promote our order with a KOC table & banner. And it’s coming up next Sunday, October 6th from 3pm-4pm!
“Light snacks after the Life Chain event (3pm-4pm) provided by the Knights of Columbus“
Father Chris has done a great job promoting us for this activity!
So what we need are Brother Knight volunteers as follows:
1) Before the event one (1) Knight >> to get the food, drinks, plates, napkins & cups as needed (Brother Ron Larock will take care of that)
2) On the Sunday morning of the event >> (11:15am – 12:30pm)
>> Six (6) Knights to set up tables & chairs for 80 people
>> Two (2) Knights to put up a recruiting table for the Knights & set up the KOC Banner
3) About 15 minutes before the end of the Life Chain event we need
>> Two (2) Knights take out the soft drinks, juices, drinks, & food and place on pickup tables
4) During the event:
>> Two Knights (2) at the serving tables to assist
>> Two people (2) work the recruiting table.
>> Coffee is being looked into (more on that later).
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Please email Sir Emilio to let him know where you can help. If you have any questions on the above call (905-619-8753).
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PARKING CONTROL PUMPKINVILLE – 0CT 19
Once again we have the opportunity to assist the Town of Ajax’s Pumpkinville event on October 19th (Saturday) with parking management for a $1,400 fee (7.5 hours of work!). And yes, it is two months away but once we have our first membership meeting in September it will only be a little over four weeks away!! These funds supplement our annual dues to pay for our councils expenses and social events this coming year. The event is held at the Ajax Greenwood Conservation Area located to the West of Westney Road North and just north of Taunton Road West.
See this link for information about this event:
https://events.ajax.ca/default/Detail/2019-10-19-1100-Pumpkinville
We need to following manpower to pull this off as a council:
Friday Oct 18 1PM-4PM >> We need 6 Knights to set up two parking fields the day before the event
Saturday Oct 19 10:30-6pm >> We will have two 4 hour shifts; 6 Knights on the 1st shift and 8 Knights on the 2nd shift.
I will have water, walkie-talkies, safety vests. As we get closer to the event I will provide more details.
Please help out wherever you can. The following link will allow you to put your name where you wish to help. And if you want to do multiple shifts, by all means please do so. If you just want to tell me what shift(s) you want to do, via an email to me, that’s ok too.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LcK_EbZAXr5O_VmKixCxf1Wuj3CsJb671xE6ml0KJcw/edit?usp=sharing
Grand Knight Sir Ron
Fundraising Director
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PAST
PRIESTS BBQ PREP – SEP 19
Father Chris is hosting a group of priests from the Durham Region at St. Bernadette’s on Thursday September 19th. He asked if the Knights could help with a BBQ for the priests lunch that day.
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PARISH BREAKFAST PREP – SEP 15
Father Chris has a parish breakfast lined up for Sunday September 15th. I will have further details to communicate on this later but for now I would like to line up a few volunteers. Our only involvement is cooking the bacon & sausage on the KOC BBQ (so the smell stays outside!). Probably start early and wrap up after 2pm.
In terms of volunteers, my best guess would be 4 people (3 plus myself). The 3 people are essentially cooking the food and storing cooked food in the ovens to keep warm. Let me know if you are interested.
Thanks, GK Sir Ron
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PARKING CONTROL CANADA DAY – JUL 1
KOC Operational Times: 1pm – 11pm
Shifts: please refer to the chart below for shifts requirement
Field Parking Setup: we will need 6-8 people on Sunday afternoon (1pm-4pm)
Field Parking Tear Down: we will need 6-8 people on Tuesday afternoon (1pm-4pm)You will note there is an overlap between the shifts in the afternoon of July 1st to increase our manpower at peak times and to facilitate smoother shift transitions. Although the Canada Day event technically ends at 10pm, we need to safely guide the cars out of the field parking area afterwards, which can take an hour or more (the 2 volunteers at the Kinston entrance can leave after the fireworks). We will need to divide the team up with half at the Alexander’s Crossing exit and half at the Audley exit.
We will need a total of 16 Brother Knights to cover all of the shifts on Canada Day. That excludes the 6 Brother Knights I need to help be set up (June 30) & then teardown (July 2) the parking posts. This is a great fundraiser based on the single day event. Please jump in and help!
This is the link to the spreadsheet; just enter your name in the shift you wish to take on: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zgbUSo1ovEhHBm7sqZ3cJfIlYFQ15Qcjm7w6UL-eeOM/edit?usp=sharing
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PARKING CONTROL EASTER MASSES – MAR 30-31
We Need Volunteers
Point Duty at All Masses this weekend including Saturday Night Vigil.
Please show up at least 45 Minutes Before Mass.
We need at least 4 Knights for each Mass.
SATURDAY VIGIL MASS – Start time 8:00 PM – Show Up Time 7:15 PM
EASTER SUNDAY MASSES
1. Start time 8:00 AM – Show Up Time 7:15 AM
2. Start time 9:30 AM – Show Up Time 8:45 AM
3. Start time 11.00 AM – Show Up Time 10:15 AM
4. Start time 12:30 PM – Show Up Time 11:45 AM
Let Joe Hovorka know at [email protected] ASAP which Mass(es) you can cover.
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WINTERFEST 2024 – FEB 19 – Audley Recreation Centre
The Town of Ajax has asked us if we could help them with parking management for their Feb 19th (It’s the holiday Family Day) Winterfest event held at the Audley Recreation Center. This is easier than Canada Day or Pumpkinville as our parking posts & caution tape setup is not required. For 8.5 hours we can earn another $1,000 for our council. I figure we will need 4 people from 9:30am – 12:00pm, then 8 people from 12:00pm – 5pm. Below are the details. We will need to have secured the required volunteer KOC tean my the Feb 12th membership meeting at the latest.
Event Time: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Time to be onsite: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30/5 p.m.
Please contact Sir Ron Larock @ [email protected]
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RIBFEST 2024 – MAY 24-26 – Ajax Downs
Once again, many volunteers will be needed for the annual Ribfest at Ajax Downs. This is one of the Council’s biggest fundraising events with the money supporting the Council’s extensive Charity initiatives.
Volunteers will be needed for Parking setup and takedown, parking control, and refuse pickup. No experience necessary!
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR and consider donating your time to this worthwhile cause.
If we don’t have enough volunteers, our income for the event will be cut in half! So, it’s up to you!