Won't You Help Us Pay it Forward? Breakfast is on us!

Dear Past, Present and Future Knights of the Breakfast Table,

Save the date – Breakfast is on us!

Richard Cash and I have a very special request to ask of you. In lieu of our usual Tuesday morning meeting, will you mark your calendar and plan to attend a Pay-it-Forward free-will donation fundraising breakfast on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 6:00 a.m. in the basement of St. John Cantius Church?

Citing the parable of the talents, the St. Cloud Visitor recently asked for ideas on how one might take $100, grow it, and use it to help others. Rich and I submitted an idea to utilize the power of the Knights of the Breakfast Table – a group that includes more than 80 previous attendees.

Our idea was this: Rather than meeting at Perkin’s, we would make breakfast and ask the men to consider generously donating to create a “giving circle” to fund two charitable efforts to help those impacted by the recent economic downturn

The Visitor decided to fund our idea.

Given these uncertain times, our economy, and those whom we know personally who have lost their jobs, we plan to use the donations for two charitable purposes to assist families facing difficulties. Whatever money we raise will be split to cover both immediate and long-term family needs. Half of the money raised will go to Catholic Charities’ Emergency Services’ food shelf. The other half will go to create a Pay it Forward Scholarship through the St. Cloud Technical College Foundation. The scholarship has been established to help a married man who has lost his job, and qualifies for financial aid, to pursue additional schooling so that he might find employment. Both efforts are designed to help people locally.

Now we need your help.

Those who would prefer to donate directly to either organization for tax-deduction reasons may do so, but we would ask that you bring the checks with you the morning of the breakfast.

So, what can you do to help?

1. Please plan on coming to breakfast, whether you’ve been there in a long time or not, on Tuesday, March 17 at 6 a.m. at St. John Cantius Church in St. Cloud. Also, please consider bringing a male guest.

2. If you plan on attending, please RSVP to me at tdrake@clearwire.net or 320-230-1881 as soon as possible so that we know how many men to prepare breakfast for.

3. Come prepared to help the Pay it Forward money grow.

Rich and I will give a short presentation on the effort and ask for free-will donations. Would you prayerfully consider matching the original Pay it Forward amount of $100? Anything that you can contribute will be greatly appreciated.

If you live far away and cannot make it to breakfast, will you still consider a financial contribution? Checks can be made out directly to Catholic Charities Emergency Services or the Saint Cloud Technical College Foundation. We would simply ask that you send them to me at: Tim Drake, 35474 County Road 2, St. Joseph, MN 56374as the Visitor wants to know how much we’ve raised.

We’ve been asked to implement our idea before the end of Lent. The Visitor will eventually be writing a story on the effort.

Let’s demonstrate to others the power of a faith-filled men’s group!

Your brothers in Christ,
Tim Drake and Richard Cash