The Knights of Columbus announced today that it set new records for charitable giving and volunteer service hours in 2006.

The results of the Order's Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for the year ending December 31, 2006 show that total contributions to charity at all levels reached $143,816,004 -- exceeding the previous year's total by more than $4 million. The figure includes $35,133,393 donated by the Supreme Council, and $108,682,611 in charitable donations from state and local councils, Fourth Degree assemblies, and squire circles.

The survey also shows that the reported number of volunteer hours by Knights for charitable causes grew to 68,270,432 hours, up more than 4 million hours from 2005. There were 393,807 Knights of Columbus blood donors during the year, and Knights made more than 6 million visits to the sick and bereaved.

The volunteer efforts were spearheaded by the Knights' continued commitment to the Gulf States region affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Shortly after the hurricanes, the Knights donated more than $10 million to relief efforts, and donations of money and time continued throughout 2006.

Cumulative figures show that during the past decade, the Knights of Columbus has donated nearly $1.25 billion to charity, and provided in excess of 593 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable causes.

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest lay Catholic organization, with 1.7 million members in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Central America, and Poland.