BINGO KNIGHTS, AN ONTARIO SUCCESS STORY

Jesus the King council project, Bingo Knights was featured at the end of April by the Director of Fraternal Training from Supreme, Brother Darryl Barrios, and the Supreme Director of Programs, Brother Drew Dillingham as an Ontario success story under the FAITH pillar, in the fraternal webinar entitled Programming Ideas to Help Councils Shine that was broadcast world-wide. Deputy Grand Knight Hikmat was asked the following which also explains the whole process to any council:

Question: Describe your program.

Bingo Knights is the perfect example for councils on how to innovate and create new ways of fundraising. After the accidental fire in 2016 that damaged our Jesus the King Melkite Catholic Church at 1 Lyndhurst Drive, Thornhill, Ontario, the fund raising events of the council were crippled with no place to run the events or even have meetings. The PANDEMIC hammered the council even more. I founded this project and formed the team to save the charitable activities of the council and support our church initiatives and its parishes and many other charities all over Ontario.
I formed a WHATSAPP group for the project and named it BINGO KNIGHTS to give it a marketing appeal, personality and facilitate communications & volunteering. It has around 20 dedicated volunteer Knights from the council as well as ladies from Jesus the King church. At the beginning of a charitable gaming session, Jesus the King council is announced as THE HOSTING CHARITY. Our volunteers have nothing to do with the game. They just wear the Knights of Columbus white council shirt with their badges, walk around, smile, welcome, tidy up, pick up paper and wipe tables and tuck in chairs. We also gave our ladies a badge indicating they are LADY VOLUNTEERS. In return for our service, the council gets a share of the proceeds that we have to donate among charitable initiatives in Ontario but mainly in our own region.

Question: What challenges have you faced?

The biggest challenge was getting the application approved by the city which later issued the council a special permit from Ontario Lottery & Gaming. The previous track record of the council in helping charities, the awards it had received over the years under all the pillars, and its Knights of Columbus experience of putting faith into action played a crucial part in getting the permit as it impressed the licensing officials and gave a clear picture that Jesus the King Knights of Columbus council knows how to serve charity, & community. The second challenge was sourcing more than 26 Ontario charities that I selected to cover all what the Knights of Columbus should support under all the pillars and even more, with emphasis on Catholic Charities, food banks and mother & baby support. Each charity had to explain in writing how they use their donations to ensure it is directed for the needy in Ontario as the raised funds had to go 100% to charity as per the policies of Ontario Lottery and Gaming. Each charity was independently approved after several clarifications back & forth. Identifying different charities is what the Knights of Columbus know best and one charity SILENT VOICE that supports the deaf community told me that Jesus The King were the first council ever to donate to them which surprised me, and pleased my heart.

Question: What has made this program the success that it is?

It is a couple of reasons, but mainly the easiness and the flexibility of the Bingo Knights Charitable fund-raising program that is good for the community as you can volunteer when it is suitable for you. The second reason is the dedication of the Bingo Knights & Lady volunteers. I have two Sub Deacons among the volunteers, and they are also brother Knights. Any Knight or church volunteer can participate and choose the time suitable for them. Two volunteers are always required for each session that is 2 hours long. The volunteers wear the Knights of Columbus white council shirt with their badges, walk around, smile, welcome, tidy up, pick up paper, wipe tables, tuck in chairs and talk when appropriate re the good deeds that their council does. I always say, “In charitable gaming, there are always TWO WINNERS, the first small winner is the player who wins BINGO, and the second bigger winner are the CHARITIES which benefit the good of the community in Ontario.”
Jesus the King council was revived and is now supporting all the programs of our church as First Holy Communion, IMAC Youth Ministry, Canadian Melkite Youth Convention, After Mass Community Development, and many more with thousands of dollars and even considering making donations towards the renovation of our church that had the accidental fire. Our Bingo Knights volunteers went out of their way volunteering at late hours during 2024 to raise more than $90,000 that was donated to around 35 initiatives including $39,000 for our church projects. The charities that we donated to represented all the types of needs of the community in Ontario from food banks, to mother & baby, to youth ministry, to Special Olympics, to veterans, the homeless, the vulnerable, Jesus the King Church and many more.

Question: How can other councils start this program and get similar results?

It is a fairly straight forward process and the potential is huge. The Ontario Charitable Gaming Association has so far raised more than 600 million Canadian Dollars for charity. Any experienced council can contact their city and ask for the Licensing officer. Then fill an eligibility application which is usually available on the City website. To be eligible, the council has to show their experience in charity work and fit into one of these four categories although in reality the Knights of Columbus fit into all of them:
# Relief of poverty
# Advancement of Religion
# Advancement of Education
# Other charitable purposes beneficial to the community including health and art
You clearly notice that these categories are what the Knights of Columbus do best. Bingo Knights is the perfect example for councils on how to innovate and create new concepts, marketing opportunities and ways of fund raising to serve their churches, communities and charities in general and appeal to a wider as well as younger segment of their population so that the Knights of Columbus order evolves with the new age of technology and ways of communication. For more info contact Bro. Hikmat, the Christian Refugee Relief Director, www.christianrefugeerelief.org 416-893 8060 email: [email protected]

TO VIEW THE WEBINAR INTERVIEW CLICK ON THIS LINK:

https://goto.webcasts.com/viewer/event.jsp?ei=1713102&tp_key=a5349ab36e