Idaho Falls Knights of Columbus celebrate contest winner making nationals

IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Falls Knights of Columbus, a fraternal nonprofit centered around service and giving back to the community, recently held a free throw contest and one of the participants is headed to a national tournament.

The Knights of Columbus partnered with Club Apple in February to host the event. Participants, aged 9-14 shoot 25 free throws, and winners advance to the state level. Two winners at the state level then move on to the national championship, which is held on different dates each year. It’s not clear when the 2026 championship is taking place.

Ten-year-old Enoch Harrison was one of nine participants this year. He was awarded a trophy on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at the Club Apple, for winning the competition.

Enoch tells EastIdahoNews.com he’s been playing basketball since age 5. He feels good about making it to nationals, and is excited for the trip.

Enoch’s father, Alan Harrison, said, “Shawn (Kelsch, one of the group’s leaders) was at the Skyline basketball game taking tickets and he told us about this competition, so I brought two of my sons down and we participated and we had a lot of fun.”

EastIdahoNews.com spoke with Kelsch to learn more about the organization. He says there are 200 members in Idaho Falls council #1663, one of 30 councils in the state. The organization operates on four principles: charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.

Several fundraising events are held throughout the year. OctoberFest — its largest event, which has raised as much as $15,000 in the past — is held the last Saturday in September.

“Those funds support various causes, including a veterans wheelchair project, coat drives, and Birthright, which provides diapers and formula for new parents,” Kelsch says.

It also hosts coat drives in the winter and Bingo nights once a month, which help support the Idaho Falls Soup Kitchen.

The Knights of Columbus dates back to 1881, according to its website, and gets it name from Christopher Columbus. Catholic minister, Father Michael McGivney, gathered a group of men at his Connecticut parish. An anti-Catholic sentiment and dangerous factory conditions left many families fatherless, and McGivney’s goal was to “unite Catholic men and help families of deceased members.”

The organization assumed corporate status on March 29, 1882. Today, it responds to natural and humanitarian disasters all over the world. It advocates for persecuted Christians in the Middle East, and donated its 2,000th ultrasound machine to a pregnancy center in Virginia last year.

The Idaho Falls Council was formed in 1940.

To get involved or learn more, visit the organization’s website.