Grand Knight Loses to Help Others Gain

All it took was a little incentive for one of Enfield's most benevolent fraternal organizations to make a huge difference in the lives of some less fortunate neighbors.

The Knights of Columbus Council #50 recently held its annual Turkey Challenge drive to benefit the Enfield Food Shelf. The group's goal was to beat the 2010 total of 212 donated turkeys, and as an added bonus, Grand Knight Paul Cunningham offered to have his head shaved if the members surpassed last year's donations.

"Council #50 has a long track record of charity and support in the Enfield community," Cunningham said. "We recognized that with the continuing economic uncertainties and the recent weather-related issues, the need would be greater than ever. The recent power outages hurt twofold, in that there were more people in need due to lost wages, spoiled food or other casualty events. Likewise, we feared that those who would otherwise donate might not be able to for the same reasons. We challenged our membership to meet the increased demand, and did they ever."

By the time the council celebrated its annual "Knight Before Christmas" party on Dec. 3, it had more than doubled last year's effort, donating 429 turkeys to the Food Shelf. As promised, Cunningham donned a smock, and Food Shelf Executive Director Linda Bridge was given the honor of making the first pass at the Grand Knight's buzz cut.

"There is really no way to express the overwhelming gratitude we have at the Food Shelf for what this Knights of Columbus, Council #50 has been able to accomplish for us," Bridge said. "Their caring and concern for their fellow man and neighbors, is crystal clear from the way they respond to our call for help. Paul was able to make this an even more enticing program by putting out that challenge that his head could be shaved if they broke last years record. I felt extremely honored to be invited to the celebration, and even more honored by being the very first person to be allowed to begin the shaving process. So often, thank you just doesn't seem like enough to let the Knights know how we feel. What a very successful drive this turned out to be, and the 525 families that got turkeys and all the fixings are also very grateful."

While in the process of losing his locks, Cunningham decided to raise some extra cash for the hunger relief agency by offering anyone in attendance to take a turn with the razor. Fifteen people ponied up $20 apiece, resulting in an additional $300 donation.