i grew up, like most kids from jasper, going to the strassenfest parade every year, sweating my bum off and passing go to collect obscene amounts of candy. until this year, i hadn’t attended the parade since middle school and i had a sort of, “so that’s what that means” moments. for years, one of my favorite entries of the parade was “the big flag,” better known as the knights of columbus. i loved this entry because they handed out the big tootsie rolls, why else would anyone like it? i also loved the fact that someone always gave me some coins to toss into the giant flag. i didn’t, until this year, actually question what the knights of columbus really was, why i tossed coins into it and why they always gave me cavity-inducing tootsie rolls (though i never questioned it).

dean gave me the short story of what they do: help sick people, and their families, who can’t afford it. there have been many people in my life who have been directly affected by the KofC, and i never realized it. and whether your catholic or not, you should be intrigued by the fact that the founder of the KofC, Father Michael J. McGivney, is being investigated for sainthood by the vatican. pretty cool and heartwarming in times where it seems everyone’s hearts are growing colder and smaller by the minute. moral of the story: even if you only have a dime, find a charity and throw your dime at it. every drop helps.

quick, give me a roll of quarters, i want a tootsie roll.

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