WATSONVILLE — Hope Services, the Watsonville-based organization that serves people with developmental disabilities, got a financial boost Friday after another organization gave them a donation.
The $6,300 check from the Knights of Columbus Council 11804 came from that organization’s annual Tootsie Roll Drive, a six-week money collecting drive at five local Catholic churches.
The drive also gathered an equal amount for the local version of the Special Olympics, said Knights of Columbus member Richard Sanchez.
“Knights of Columbus represents giving, caring and helping the community,” Sanchez said.
Hope Services has received donations from the organization for the past 14 years, said Day Programs Manager Mauna Loa Morris.
Morris said the money boosts Hope Services’ state funding.
“They have been supporting us for years,” she said. “They are very generous.”
The donation put Watsonville’s branch of the Knights of Columbus into the top three in the state, out of 600 counties, member Greg Caput said.
The Tootsie Roll Drive, so-named for the ubiquitous candy handed out to donors, is not the Knights of Columbus’ only philanthropic activity. It also participates in the Watsonville Multicultural Celebration, the Our Lady of Fatima Festival and the Coats for Kids program during the Christmas season, Sanchez said.
