Knights of Columbus donation helps earthquake repairs

Courtesy photo/Andy Airriess

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On April 2, the Utah Knights of Columbus presented a check to St. Patrick Parish to help pay for the construction of a new religious education building. The old building was destroyed by the 2020 earthquake. Shown from left are past State Deputy Greg Keller, who was state deputy when the quake occurred; St. Patrick Council Grand Knight Larry Martinez; Fr. Anastasius Iwuoha, the parish administrator; and current Utah Knights of Columbus State Deputy Bill Kelly. The donation came from the Knights of Columbus Disaster Relief Fund and was approved by the board of directors in March.

SALT LAKE CITY — A recent donation from the Knights of Columbus has helped mitigate the financial effects of the 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Utah in 2020, causing severe property damage in the Salt Lake area. Among the properties in the Diocese of Salt Lake City that sustained significant damage were the parishes of St. Patrick and St. Ann, both in Salt Lake City.

To help pay for the repairs, the Knights donated $15,000 to St. Ann Parish and the adjacent Kearns-St. Ann School. An additional $35,000 was given to St. Patrick Parish, which had damage to the church itself and three other buildings. Two of the buildings needed repairs, which were accomplished with the parish community’s help, but the parish center had to be demolished.

As a result, for the past three years, religious education classes have been held in the parish office, small chapel, the big hall and, occasionally, the church.

The parish is planning to construct a new religious education center, with four rooms that can be used for classes or community meetings. A groundbreaking for the project was held in December 2021, with a completion date set for the end of 2022, but the project was put on hold as building costs soared.

“We have had the estimate for the new hall revised upwards three times since we started,” said Fr. Anastasius Iwuoha, the parish administrator.

To help pay for the building, the parish community has held various fundraising efforts: drawings, garage sales, food sales and appeals for cash donations.

“The parish community have been very generous. However, they are exhausted but are determined to complete this building,” Fr. Anastasius said.

The donation from the Knights is especially appreciated with rising building costs and inflation, said the diocesan chancellor, Deacon George Reade.

The Knights of Columbus donation came from the international office’s Disaster Relief Fund, a donation that had to be approved by the board of directors.

“We got together with our state deputy and asked if they could help us” make the appeal to the Supreme Council, said Larry Martinez, Grand Knight of the St. Patrick Council.

The Knights of Columbus Supreme Council receives requests for funding for many projects throughout the world, so the fact that St. Patrick Parish received funds from the Supreme Council for the construction of the St. Joseph Religious Education Center means a lot, Martinez said.

“This is a great blessing because our mission in life as Catholics is to help others,” he said.

Construction on the religious education building is scheduled to begin this spring. To ensure ample funds for the project completion, the Knights and the parish community will continue fundraising with events such as a dance and selling bricks “where people can put their names on it for future generations to see they helped out,” Martinez said.

To donate to the religious education building fund, visit https://stpatrickslc.org/st-joseph-building-fund.

“We appeal to individuals or groups to help this poor church community in building this hall that will serve to educate our children in the faith. … Please listen to the call of God and help us make this building a reality,” said Fr. Iwuoha, and added his thanks to everyone who already has donated to the effort.