The Knights of Columbus council 5776 held the annual Breakfast with Santa at St. Paul parish December 4th.

In keeping with the council's tenets of charity, unity and fraternity, the event focused on the celebration of Christmas among families, friends and parish members while collecting a substantial donation for local families in need. Participating families brought canned goods and made charitable donations on the day of the event; numerous members of the Knights of Columbus and their wives and families volunteered hours of their time to plan, prepare, set-up and run the event, and parish members and resident priests provided their support, guidance and a blessing at each breakfast session.

Miller Hall at St Paul was warmly decorated for the Christmas season; carolers and instrumentalists set the holiday mood and kept the "spirits bright."

Breakfast was prepared by the Knight of Columbus and included eggs, pancakes, sausage, cereal, doughnuts, juice, milk and coffee. Santa made a grand entrance at each session and enjoyed the chance to hear each girl and boy's Christmas wish and gave parents the chance for capturing pictures of the moment.

Families also had a chance to design and create holiday cards for our service men and women overseas. It was hard to tell who had the most fun, the volunteers or our parish families, but Westerville Area Resource Ministry was the clear winner. Thanks to the generosity of the St. Paul Parish and the families at the breakfast we were able to present 180 Christmas cards for active military and 322 pounds of canned goods along with $2894.57 to WARM. This total will enable WARM to feed over 180 families of 4 for an entire week.

Planning for next year has begun; if you are interested in being a part of the event in 2009, please contact Chris Dolnicek, Don Coffey or Kris West.

Photos from this year's event:

Parents and children alike enjoyed the event.

Santa received many smiles and wishes.

It was a busy and fun morning.

The Sweet Adelines singers entertained guests.