A Richland man’s parents taught him at a young age to do his part to leave places a little better than he found them.

It’s one of the reasons Bob Zinsli stepped up to help raise money for Ukrainian refugees through the Richland Knights of Columbus. About 300 men make up the local Catholic fraternal organization, a nonprofit located off the bypass highway at Van Giesen Street.

Council 3307 raised the most money of any Knights group in the country – more than $100,000. To date, it’s raised $102,030.20.

The national Knights of Columbus Supreme Council donated $1 million and then matched the next $500,000 donated as part of the Ukraine Solidarity Fund campaign, which has raised more than $22 million.

Zinsli’s moxie put the local campaign into motion last spring with a $25,000 seed donation that was matched by the Richland Knights.

He was there at the end of the campaign, too, with a $10,000 donation to get it over the finish line to meet the group’s $100,000 goal.

“When Russia invaded, I felt it was so wrong and so many refugees and people needing help. The good Lord has been awful wonderful to me in my physical life as well as financially,” Zinsli said.

Zinsli, 91, a retired engineer manager, has been a Knight since 1961, and he’s not interested in shining the spotlight on his actions.

He'd rather talk about how all the money raised is helping the people who need it most.

Through a network of Knights of Columbus councils in the Ukraine and Poland, the money donated worldwide helps to provide food, medical supplies, water and other humanitarian needs.

The needs have been great.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, sending millions of Ukrainian refugees fleeing for safety across the border.

The United Nations reported there are more than 6.3 million Ukrainian refugees globally and 3.7 million internally displaced people in Ukraine as of January 2024.

The refugees seek safety, protection and assistance as the war passed into its second year last month.

Catholics were persecuted in Ukraine when the country was part of the Soviet Union and church leaders worry the Catholic Church will be exterminated if the Russian invasion is successful, the Catholic News Agency reports. There are about 5 million Catholics in Ukraine.

As the war continues, humanitarian needs are multiplying and spreading. An estimated 14.6 million people in Ukraine will need humanitarian assistance in 2024, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

The Richland Knights Council was chartered in April 1950 and has been doing charitable work in southeastern Washington for more than 70 years. In recent years, the council supported two major initiatives: a wheelchair program and the KC Help medical equipment program. It also donates many volunteer hours.