Knights of Columbus are longtime supporters of The Pregnancy Center in Clinton. Recently, local KofCs led efforts to raise money for the pro-life center’s digital marketing campaign.
By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
CLINTON — A few years ago, the Clinton/Camanche Knights of Columbus Council received heartwarming news from The Pregnancy Center. A young woman facing an unplanned pregnancy had come in for a limited obstetric ultrasound and, after seeing her unborn baby’s heartbeat, chose not to have an abortion. “It was such a powerful story,” said Knight of Columbus (KofC) David Frantz. “I’ll always remember it.”
Through the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council’s Ultrasound Initiative, local councils in 2016 provided The Pregnancy Center with the ultrasound machine capable of creating 3D images. Recently, the KofCs raised money to support the center’s digital marketing campaign.
The Pregnancy Center provides free pregnancy tests and limited obstetrical ultrasounds to women who have a positive test result; also, peer counseling and information on sexual health, alternatives to abortion, healthy pregnancy, and parenting and post-abortion grief assistance.
The center offers referrals for medical, adoption and social needs and its Wise Women Parenting Program educates and equip parents with life skills, offers emotional and spiritual support and connects families with items such as diapers, clothing and formula.
Franz, the Clinton/Camanche council’s grand knight, said he is impressed with the center’s approach to helping out women on their journey.
Each year, between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, KofC councils from Church of the Visitation Parish-Camanche, Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace Parish-Clinton and St. Joseph Parish-DeWitt host donation drives to raise money for The Pregnancy Center. Parishioners fill plastic baby bottles with cash, change and checks. In 2023, parishioners donated just under $10,000.
This year’s funds will help support the center’s ongoing efforts to reach women on social media, internet browsers and other online platforms, said Nancy Lincoln, the center’s executive director. The center felt “compelled by God to take a huge step of faith” during the COVID-19 pandemic to promote services digitally to abortion-vulnerable women in need of help and free pregnancy assistance. The center worked with Choose Life, a pro-life marketing company, to create an interactive client website, landing pages, social media ads, search engine optimization and a 24-hour hotline number.
The initiative’s cost exceeded $20,000. “We chose to trust that God would provide for the additional funding we would need, since we did not have this in our yearly budget,” Lincoln said. “God provided exceedingly above and beyond,” she added, “by providing the extra monies we needed from our amazing donors, businesses and churches.”
She believes the impact is invaluable. “We saw God save an unborn baby’s life within the first week of launching this online initiative,” she said. “We praise God for what he has done and is continuing to do!”
Lincoln and her team are grateful to the KofCs for their continued support. “The Pregnancy Center has been so blessed to partner with the Knights of Columbus in our life-affirming mission to save the lives of the unborn and help support moms and their families.”
