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Class of 2003 classmates Jeremy Boucher (left) and Patrick Mason (right) unload a trailer of supplies / Photo: Johnny Jaffe
Class of 2003 classmates Jeremy Boucher (left) and Patrick Mason (right) unload a trailer of supplies / Photo: Johnny Jaffe

The Knights of Columbus have published a about the work that their members are doing to support vulnerable Native American populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notable among those featured are two members of the College檚 Class of 2003: Jeremy Boucher and Patrick Mason, the Knights� national supreme director.

淣ative populations are always hit disproportionately hard by pandemics,� Mr. Mason � a member of the Osage Nation and a board member of Life is Sacred, a prolife Native American organization � tells reporter Carl Bunderson. 淭he 1918 flu wiped out entire villages. The H1N1 death rate in Native American communities was four times the national average.�

In March, Mr. Mason, Mr. Boucher, and fellow Knights in their Gallup, New Mexico, council began filling a trailer with crates of donated and purchased food, which they distributed to local reservations. Their efforts soon expanded � all the way to native communities in Hawaii � and by early July the Knights had delivered more than $320,000 of relief in the form of boxes containing sufficient groceries to feed a family for two weeks. 

淧ope Francis is always talking about going out to the peripheries,� the article quotes Mr. Boucher as observing. The Knights of Columbus� 淟eave No Neighbor Behind� program � designed to aid those in need during the pandemic � 渋s really encouraging us to do that,� he continues, 渢o go outside of our comfort zone, and remember that it檚 not just our family and friends who are our neighbors.�

Adds Mr. Mason: 淚 have great hope because God always brings great good out of bad situations � and I檓 seeing the good that檚 coming out of this and the love that檚 growing between neighbors and peoples.�