The Covington council of the Knights of Columbus is a community service organization that has 50 members and about 16 years of service.

A relatively young council, the Covington council works to support the St. Augustine parish on Highway 278 east of Covington. The Knights, a 130-year-old worldwide Catholic fraternal group, regularly does community service, but hopes to be more visible.

"We would like to get out into the community more and have more community involvement," said Joe Courchaine, the council's grand knight.

The Knights regularly make breakfast for children on the second Sunday of every month between St. Augustine's two morning masses. They raise money for students in seminary who are studying to become priests and to support local food pantry, Courchaine said.

On a state level, the Knights help to provide wheelchairs for veterans and to fund ultrasounds in pregnancy crisis centers in an effort to sway pregnant women against choosing abortion.

The local council was founded in 1995 and has about 50 total members, 20 of whom are regularly active, Courchaine said.

The Knights of Columbus was founded by 29-year-old Father Michael McGivney in New Haven, Conn., in 1881, according to the group's website. The first meetings were in the basement of St. Mary's Church. The following year, Knights of Columbus officially incorporated as a fraternal service organization.

It currently boasts 1.8 million members in 14,000 councils around the world.