THE EUCHARIST:  SOURCE AND SUMMIT OF OUR LIFE
 
At the Last Supper, on the night He was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood.  This He did in order to perpetuate the Sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages until He should come again.  The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” The most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth:  Christ Himself, our Passover and Living Bread.

With the start of the new year, Supreme requires of us certain reports and audits to assess the Council’s well-being.  The following is a brief summary of what has been going on to satisfy these requirements.

FRATERNAL ACTIVITY SURVEY

The Fraternal Activity Survey (FAS) has been completed and forwarded to the Supreme Council, State Deputy and the District Deputy on January 23, 2006.  The FAS is conducted annually by the Financial Secretary of each council and submitted to the Supreme Council by Jan. 31 of each year.  The FAS covers a period of one year and reports on the respective Council activities.
The results of the FAS for the year 2005 for Council #10802 are as outlined below:

• 1,513  hours caring for the sick/nursing homes/hospitals
•   204  visits of condolences
•     59  blood donations
• 7,230  hours of community volunteer service
•   566  hours of miscellaneous activities not included above
•   448  hours of fraternal service which includes household chores, transportation, tutoring, counseling, etc.

The information listed above was compiled from work sheets sent on Dec. 1, 2005 to all Brothers of 10802.  There where 50 worksheets returned from a total of 113 sent for a 44% return.  Unfortunately, it appears that many community service hours have gone by the way-side.  The compiled statistics show a very large decrease in the community volunteer service category, from 10,007 hrs. in 2,004 to 7,320 hrs. in 2005.
Thank you to all Brothers who promptly returned  their completed worksheets.

SEMI ANNUAL AUDIT REPORT

The semi-annual audit report is currently being prepared with results to be mailed to Supreme prior to Feb. 15, 2006.

DUES UPDATE

As of January 30 we stand at 86 Brothers paid with 27 left to pay.  The second billing (at council expense—envelopes and stamps at the new rate) has been sent as of Feb. 1, 2006.  Brothers, please pay your dues promptly.  On March 1, 2006 all unpaid dues will become delinquent.  In accordance with our bylaws all delinquent members’ names will be forwarded to the retention committee for further attempts at dues collections.  A “KNIGHT ALERT’ letter will be forwarded by the retention committee to all delinquent members.  Brothers, please spare us this unnecessary work by paying your dues.

See you at the next meeting.

Yours in Christ,
Roy Galli