Geneva’s Care Net Pregnancy Care Center of the Finger Lakes now has a new ultrasound machine, thanks to a yea-long fundraising effort spearheaded by Knights of Columbus Council 222 of St. Francis and St. Clare Parish in Waterloo and Seneca Falls.
The local Knights held a ziti dinner and a chicken barbecue, collected cans and bottles, and received several large individual donations, and after 12 months had raised more than $15,000. The Knights of Columbus Supreme Council contributed the remaining funds necessary for the center to purchase the $29,000 ultrasound machine.
The Knights launched its fundraising campaign after learning the center’s ultrasound machine was more than 10 years old and the maintenance agreement covering it was due to expire in 2015. A functioning ultrasound machine is a critical component of the center’s mission of helping women who are facing unplanned pregnancies to understand that there is life growing inside them, according to Doreen Teed, the center’s director.
"We at Care Net have experienced the important difference the ultrasound machine provides many times over," Teed said. "We have seen women who are happy to be pregnant cry when they see the life they are carrying, and we have seen women cry when they realize the truth of life they are now faced with. The ultrasound machine is a major part of what we do at Care Net and we are delighted to partner with the Knights of Columbus to afford this life-saving component."
All the individuals who contributed their time, talents and financial resources to help the center purchase the new ultrasound machine should be proud of their efforts, added Father Jim Fennessy, pastor of St. Francis and St. Clare.
"The Care Net Pregnancy Care Center of the Finger Lakes has proven to be a valuable resource to countless people in our region, and this new ultrasound machine will only improve their ability to continue that good work," he said.
