LYNN — The Friendly Knights of St. Patrick has been impacted, like so many others, by the effects of the pandemic, but hopes for a return to in-person gatherings come summer.
The Friendly Knights of St. Patrick President Bill McDonald says that there are so many levels of loss in the last year. As a scholarship organization, McDonald said that they have been significantly affected financially, only raising about half of what they normally do each year.
“This also affects the Hibernian Hall, with us not being down there,” he said. “It affects the musicians, the caterers, the performers and most certainly the social aspect.”
He explained that their group has members from 30 to 90 years old, some having been hospitalized with COVID-19, but thankfully made it through. He emphasized the lack of social interactions since the pandemic when he mentioned that he has seen David Solimine Sr., one of his closest friends, only once in the last year.
“We’re not your typical Zoom group,” he explained. “We’re more of an in-person, face-to-face meeting and get together to sell tickets and raffles kind of group.”
McDonald’s sister, Kathleen, said that he is “an old-school, in-person kind of fundraiser who values lifelong friends and coming together in person as the Friendly Knights.”
The Friendly Knights hosts two dinners each year, the St. Patrick’s Day Dinner followed by a halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Dinner in September. This year’s St. Patrick’s Day dinner would have been the 75th anniversary, which heightened the impact and significance that its cancellation had on members and scholarship winners. They do plan to host the dinner in September, if it is safe to do so.
With the assistance of technology, McDonald said that they were able to raise about $15,000 this year as opposed to their average $30,000, but every penny counts. Between email raffles, Venmo and donations via mail, the organization was able to continue fundraising while adhering to COVID-19 guidelines and protocols.
“With all the technology now, it definitely helped,” he said. “We did collect online and did a Facebook live for drawing, so we took advantage of those things.”
Kathleen also created a GoFundMe page for the Friendly Knights of St. Patrick as a surprise for her brother. The page has already raised about $7,000, all of which will go toward their scholarship fund to support Lynn students, graduating in 2021, who have already lost so much.
“Her heart is in the right place,” McDonald said. “About 90 percent of our money goes back into the kids of Lynn.”
Students can contact their guidance counselors for information on how to apply for the Friendly Knights of St. Patrick’s scholarship, which is awarded at the end of the school year during the senior scholarship night.
The organization has raised more than $150,000 for scholarships for Lynn students since 2009. In 2018, the Friendly Knights gave a $20,000 scholarship to Lynn Vocational Technical Institute graduate Shaneil Nelson, who was living in a homeless shelter in Milford at the time. Fast forward three years, Nelson is now planning to graduate from the Boston College Nursing program in May.
“We were able to help her a little bit with the $20,000 and that was rewarding to us,” McDonald said.
McDonald is passionate about helping the community that he was raised in, saying that Lynn is a great city that has a lot to offer.
He said there is talk about ramping up the scholarship program, trying to provide Lynn students as much support and assistance as they can, before they were forced to slightly put on the brakes when the pandemic hit.
“We’re a Lynn organization,” he said. “We consider ourselves Lynners first, before Irishmen.”
He said that they are a light-hearted group and are fortunate enough to have such a good crew.
“We’re looking forward to getting together again and raising some money,” he said.
