2026 Drive for Persons with Developmental Disabilities Summary of Results

The mission of the Knights of Columbus Developmental Disabilities (DD) Drive can be summarized as follows:

We acknowledge persons with developmental disabilities are children of God, just as a person without a disability is, and as a child of God, they deserve every right to have every opportunity to be the best they can possibly be.

 - Word Among Us article on Catholic servant of God Gertrude Barber

The Knights embody Incarnate Word’s parish mission of making God’s love visible by standing up for those with developmental disabilities. For several days in October, the Knights of Columbus became “beggars” for people with developmental disabilities, appealing in public to our community to give coins, dollars, checks or online donations. Many of our donors express appreciation for the KofC’s work that benefits a child, friend, or another family member living with a disability such as Downs syndrome, autism, learning, and other physical and intellectual disabilities.

The Knights of Columbus Incarnate Word council 9981 conducted the 2026annual DD charitable drive from Oct 7 to Oct 17 at five storefronts, two street intersections, and after five weekend masses at Incarnate Word. These are some highlights of council 9981’s 2026 DD Drive:

• • 48 Knights worked a total of 81 shifts for 2-3 hours each over the course of 7 days. A partner council provided additional 16 volunteers to work 10 shifts at a Dierbergs store.
  • 32 Knights volunteered for more than 1
  • In addition to Schnucks and Dierbergs, we collected at a new store location (Wal-Mart Chesterfield) that contributed 13% of the total collected.
  • 4 of the 8 locations we worked exceeded the amount collected there in The 2026 results are summarized and compared to 2025 in the figure below.

100% of the proceeds will be distributed to the following four non-profit organizations that serve persons with Developmental Disabilities and their families in Missouri:

• • • • Cardinal Glennon – K of C Developmental Disabilities center in St. Louis
        • Provides skilled professionals and resources to assist hundreds and children and families to grow, learn and live.
      • Incarnate Word Elementary school – One Classroom program in Chesterfield
        • Develops children with disabilities to become capable students while teaching their peer students to respect and encourage those with limitations.
      • Academy of St. Louis in Manchester
        • Provides a school experience that matures children with learning and behavioral issues into capable, educated people able to continue education and careers.
      • Special Olympics of Missouri
        • Provides training, support and competitive environment for Special Olympians to enjoy and use their talents and prepare them for a lifetime.

The Tootsie Roll is symbolic of the DD Drive because as a sign of appreciation, our donors are offered complimentary tootsie roll candy which states “Knights of Columbus Thank You for Your Support - Helping People with Intellectual Disabilities.”

Please Note:
All non-cash donations accepted via the Online (Square), etc. through November 20, 2026 will be counted towards the 2026 DD Drive while donations accepted after November 20, 2026 will be applied to the 2027 DD Drive.