The Tar Heel Knight

The beginning of a new year is a great time to review the Form 10784 filing and State Awards processes. Any member of your council is eligible to file a 10784 for a council activity. To do this visit www.kofc.org and search 10784. The first item in the search results should be “Form Invitation – Knights of Columbus,” click that link and on the page it opens enter your Membership Number and Last Name. You should immediately receive an email with a link that is good for 48 hours for completion of the form. If you don’t, please check with your FS per the note on the page. The email contains a link that opens a form that is pre-filled out with your name, membership number, council number and state, followed by details of programs divided into the four categories of Faith, Family Community and Life with ten named programs in each category plus an “Other” option. To complete the form, click the program name or enter a name if your chose Other, enter the dates of the program, the numbers of participants and any members recruited, and for Feature Programs whether the Feature Program requirements were met. Below you have up to 300 characters to describe the program. Click submit and you’re done.
The 10784s received are used by the four Program Directors – Rick Ohlendorf, Woody Hampshire, Nick Nastasi, and Jim Venglarik - to identify the award worthy programs in their areas of Faith, Family, Community, and Life, respectively. These are forwarded to the State Officers who make the final decisions. Awards are further broken down by Divisions I – IV based on council size with the top five in each category recognized. This results in a total of 80 possible awards. Note that in North Carolina the awards process is on a calendar year basis so the deadline for filing a 10784 for award consideration for 2025 was January 15^th.
I receive a copy of every 10784 as it is filed. I read them all and post them on a shared drive so the Program Directors can review them too. In looking at these over the last few months I noticed a few things. One, many forms are filed under an “Other” category when there is an existing program that would apply. Second, some routinely indicate that they met the feature program requirements whether it’s for a Featured Program or not. Last and most important though is that many forms are extremely minimal. 300 characters is not a lot, but many don’t even come close to that limit. While the details that can be added to the online 10784 are limited, you can download the form once it is filed and send it to FORMS@KofCNC.org with additional details, photos, etc. This is your chance to shine so add the details; it’s not the time to be shy. Years ago, when I was a recent PGK in New Jersey I knew a DD named Bernie Kerrigan (RIP) whose favorite saying was “Don’t hide your light under a bushel basket!” He was right then and he is right today.
Speaking of DDs, hopefully DDs are also looking at their councils’ 10784s. Please make sure that your councils are filing them and that they are accurate. If you think that one of your council’s programs is award worthy please contact me or the appropriate Program Director and bring it to our attention.
North Carolina will have the Silver Rose from May 17^th until June 13^th. It will be taking a western route this year. Look for more details in the next few months.
The State Free Throw Challenge will be held on Saturday, March 14^th in Burlington. Details are on this page of the State Website.
I’m pleased to announce that several brothers have stepped up to become Program Chairmen. Octavio Prieto is the new Soccer Challenge Chairman, John Collela is the new Life Sustaining Chairman, Mike Butler is the new First Responders Chairman, Joe Banks is the new Bright Futures Chairman and Richard Dodson is the new Gospel of Life Chairman. Thank you and welcome Octavio, John, Mike, Joe and Richard!
Supreme just updated its website and it looks great! The Programs section has an Overview and Highlights Page with all the descriptions and materials for every Supreme Program in one place. Please check it out.
Until next month….