Columbus H.O.P.E. Foundation
Helping Other People Everyday
A little history on the Columbus HOPE foundation.
The South Carolina Knights of Columbus Operation HOPE began in 1977 as the charitable arm of our organization. In the early 2000’s, in response to changing tax laws and to facilitate the growth of our donor base, the structure and organization name required a change. In 2002, State Deputy Charlie Richitelli initiated the process of forming the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. The following Knights took the lead on this task: Michael Telesco, PSD, Richard Stachelek, Richard Koehler, PSD, and Donald Cronin. The Knights of Columbus, North Carolina State Council played a key role guiding us through the process. Finally, in 2006 the South Carolina Knights of Columbus, Columbus HOPE Foundation, Inc. received the official 501(c)(3) designation from the Internal Revenue Service. Many changes have been made since then and continue to be made to improve our focus, organizational structure, operations and, most importantly, the delivery of our support for the intellectually disabled and special needs citizens of South Carolina.
From the time the South Carolina Knights started collecting donations for the Intellectually Disabled citizens as Operation HOPE in 1977, to the 2002 formation of the Columbus HOPE Foundation the total gross income was $3,317,962.00. Since the formation of the Columbus HOPE Foundation the councils have raised total gross donations of $6,435,062.00. Bringing the total gross donations for the past 43 years to $9,753,024.00.