105th Annual Knights of Columbus State Convention

Report of Y.E.P. Program
To the officers and members of the 104th State Convention Meeting of the Louisiana State
Council assembled in Lafayette, Louisiana on April 30, May 1, and May 2, 2010.
Serving the Louisiana Jurisdiction through my chairmanship of the Youth Expansion Program (Y.E.P.) this
year has been a wonderful and fulfilling experience. This chairmanship serves not only you, my brother knights,
but it serves the youth of the state. It also gave me the opportunity to travel throughout the state and speak
about the Y.E.P. program and its importance. At these numerous meetings, I spoke with many brother knights,
including ones I was meeting for the first time. To all who invited me to their meetings and provided me an
opportunity to speak and/or presented me a contribution to this program at that time, I offer my heartfelt
thanks. I believe that attending meetings like these aids the Louisiana State Council achieve their Y.E.P.
fundraising goal.
This year, we began as we did the prior year by providing each council their annual quota at the KCLS
meeting. I then used each opportunity that I was given to speak with the Area Coordinators, District Deputies,
Grand Knights, fellow brother knights and, at times, family members as a means to educate them on what the
money collected was used and that virtually all of the funds for our youth programs comes from council
contributions to Y.E.P. Many were already aware of these expenditures and sources, but some were not. This
was all done in a continued effort to emphasize why all councils should strive to meet their quota and the
consequences to the youth programs in this state if the needed funds were not received.
Council donations began to arrive slowly during the months immediately following the start of this program
year; however, many councils were waiting in anticipation for Grand Knights Day and the “Parade of
Councils.” We tried a different method for the parade this year. We assembled the information regarding the
councils and their donations and placed it in a PowerPoint presentation. That presentation was displayed
during the meeting and that became the parade. This was done in order to shorten the meeting and to ensure
that every council would receive its due recognition for their contribution. We learned some lessons that day
and the state council hopes to improve upon this new format. During this year’s Grand Knights Day, seventyseven
councils donated a total of $73,876.
At this time, we have collected $122,200.74 for the youth programs of the state. The vast majority
(almost 97%) of these funds were received from 134 councils of which 76 councils either gave their quota or
more than their quota. Of these reported funds, $4,010.24 was received from other sources such as Mass
collections, gumbo sales, and the 50/50 raffles that were conducted. $359.24 of these funds was from a
donation by the Louisiana Ladies Auxiliary Association.
This weekend, we will add to this total through our 50/50 raffles and our mass collections.
smile
service. membership. involvement. leadership. enthusiasm.
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