KC HELP (Knights Community Hospital Equipment Lend Program)

KC HELP is a local volunteer organization that loans hospital equipment to those in need in our community, AND IT'S COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE. We carry everything from walkers to hospital beds, from lift chairs to portable bathroom items—if it’s hospital equipment likely to be needed during convalescence, rehabilitation, or aging, it’s probably available for loan. Regardless of circumstances, we try to help everyone we can.

We were established locally in 2017 when our Executive Director, Larry Devlin, drove an 18-ft trailer full of used hospital equipment from the KC HELP organization in Tri-Cities to his home on Bainbridge Island. By 2020 we were already helping almost 400 people annually and by 2025 it had grown rapidly to over 2850 people served in 2025—over a seven-fold increase in only 5 years! The 2025 loans totaled almost 5,500 pieces of equipment from our two facilities on Bainbridge Island and in Bremerton—thousands of items put to good use rather than contributing to a landfill (while also saving our customers almost $1.5 million!). Throughout our area, from Gig Harbor to Hansville, from Bainbridge Island to Seabeck, KC HELP is now routinely helping those in need of medical equipment. Without a doubt, things have changed since Larry first set out on this charitable work just nine years ago.

Besides our continued rapid growth, 2025 also marked the most important development for KC HELP since Larry founded the nonprofit: We bought a building in Bremerton in May to serve as a permanent, central Service Center for our operations throughout greater Kitsap County and beyond. This was a monumental step and commitment for our group, and the new building—about twice the size of our current Bremerton space—should serve as an able central, anchor Service Center for many years to come. (KC HELP currently has four trailers that are kept busy transferring equipment between Service Centers as needed, as well as making deliveries.)

Acquiring the building, however, has also created a significant challenge for KC HELP because of needed repairs and required renovations to the building. But through perseverance and hard work, we are on track to move into the new location within the first few months of 2026.

Based on our rapid growth, we knew we'd need our own building as soon as we could manage it, so we had established a Capital Campaign in 2025 to raise funds for our move forward and are using this year's Kitsap Great Give to continue that campaign.

With our Capital Campaign now in full swing, this year's KGG is an especially good time to show your support of our efforts with a KC HELP donation!

For further information, or if you have any questions (or if you’d like to help in any way), please call us at: 360-329-2461, or email: kchelp.kofc@gmail.com.

KC HELP is a tax-exempt public charity under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3). Although it was founded by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service order, and most the volunteers are members of the Knights, they are a standalone, separate nonprofit organization from the Knights of Columbus.