A seminarian program has received $60,550 from the Texas Knights of Columbus First Lady’s Charity.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS) was given a check for the sum by the Texas State Council of the Knights of Columbus, which will help to support the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program (CSP).

The Texas Women’s Project, led by Ms. Mary Evans, raised the money over the last two years to facilitate the ongoing work of the group.

“Many of our members either have personally benefited from your program or have had family members impacted by the extraordinary service that the Archdiocese provides to military members and their families,” Evans said in a letter to the Most Reverent Timothy Broglio, AMS, said letter being partially released on the Texas Knights of Columbus website. "We are honored to be able to support our military troops throughout the world in this small way.”

Broglio responded to the gift with thanks, remarking that the funds were “overwhelming.”

“The co-sponsored seminarian program is essentially an investment in the future both of the military chaplaincy and of priestly vocations in the United States," Broglio said on the website. "I am deeply grateful for this incredible support."

The money is being put into the Father McGivney Military Chaplain Scholarship fund, which was founded by the Knights of Columbus in 2011. The fund is meant to help with the financial burden of seminary tuition and other expenses footed by would-be Catholic U.S. Military chaplains who are in the CSP.

The Knights of Columbus have donated over $2 million to the scholarship fund over the years. Since 2008, the enrollment in CSP has increased from seven to 38. While AMS’s sharing of costs per seminarian over the five-year program is $100,000, the next five years’ co-sponsored seminarian costs are expected to total more than $3.8 million, making every donation crucial.