HUNTERSVILLE — Lucy Dvorak, a St. Mark Homeschool student, was awarded the Knights of Columbus International Award for eighth-grade students for her essay, “Virtues of an Elected Leader.”
Hers was chosen from hundreds of entries submitted from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. A frame holding her letter from the Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight and her essay was presented to her after Mass April 27 by state and council officers.
Pictured are (from left) Mark Schmidt, St. Mark Council grand knight; Lucy’s father Eric, mother Amy and her siblings; Sergio Miranda, North Carolina state deputy; Father John Putnam, St. Mark pastor and council chaplain; Tim Kelley, North Carolina state advocate; and Bill Lange, council deputy grand knight.
In 1882, the Knights of Columbus was founded by Blessed Michael McGivney, a young parish priest in New Haven, Connecticut, to serve the needs of a largely immigrant Catholic community. What began as a small fraternal benefit society has since grown into the world’s premier lay Catholic men’s organization, with more than 2.1 million members in over 16,800 local councils.
As members of one of the world’s leading international charitable organizations, Knights around the world donated more than 47 million service hours and over $190 million for worthy causes in their communities in 2023.