(This article was written by Abigail Muniz Garcia and was featured in the April 2025 issue of Explore Harlingen Magazine.)
The Knights of Columbus annual Good Friday Fish Fry event is right around the corner. The fundraiser is set for April 18, 2025 from 11 am to 2 pm.
Edgar Martinez, Grand Knight with the Knights of Columbus Council 2785, encourages the public to come out and support this event that has been going on since the 1990s or earlier according to Martinez.
“Please help us help the community because without you, we won’t make a difference,” Martinez said.
Martinez, who has been a Knight for a little over six years, is passionate about helping others.
“One of the main pillars (of the Knights of Columbus) is charity,” he said. “Our main goal is to help... our mission is to help out those who need help no matter who they are. Charity is a duty; it’s not a courtesy.”
The Harlingen Knights of Columbus Council 2785 was established on November 14, 1937 though the Knights of Columbus as an organization was founded in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, a 29-year-old assistant pastor of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Ever since then, men that are part of the organization actively serve communities through different initiatives and programs.
“We are one of the older councils in not only the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) and the state, but in the whole nation,” he said.
The Knights of Columbus Council 2785 has members from all over the RGV, San Antonio, Houston, and even California and are 234 members strong.
Events such as the Good Friday Fish Fry benefit organizations that the Knights of Columbus supports such as Sunny Glen Children’s Home in San Benito, Family Crisis Center in Harlingen, and La Posada Providencia, an emergency shelter in San Benito, among others. They also provide scholarships for local students and help with school supplies at the beginning of each school year and many other initiatives.
Martinez said the proceeds of this fish fry will specifically be going to Habitat for Humanity and the Special Olympics.
“The plates will be loaded,” Martinez said of the fish-fry. “It’s going to have the best-tasting fish in the RGV… with a side of savory rice and some very delicious coleslaw, and no one shall be disappointed.”
“At the end of the day, what keeps us going, is knowing we did good,” Martinez said.
For more information on the fish fry or the Knights of Columbus, please follow Knights of Columbus - The GREAT Council 2785 Harlingen, TX on Facebook or visit their website: https://www.kofc2785.org.