Knights of Columbus member and local LAMB Foundation chairman Don Barker presented a check totaling $1,240 to Stanly County Schools Autism Support Specialist Adria Speights Jan. 31 at Albemarle High School.

“This is amazing,” Speights said after receiving the check. “With donations from the community and organizations like the LAMB Foundation, we’re working to build a lending library to support our students with disabilities.”

In her role as support specialist, Speights said she has the opportunity to help create tasks and activities that are unique to each individual learner.

The Knights of Columbus is a worldwide men’s Catholic organization dedicated to providing acts of charity to those in need. Members of the Knights of Columbus across the state have helped raise more than $23 million for the LAMB Foundation, which helps to support people in the state with intellectual disabilities.

Originally created in 1960 by William “Bill” Scott, a member of the Knights of Columbus who had two children with disabilities, the LAMB Foundation has grown to include more than 16,000 members, according to the group’s website.

Aside from the school system, Barker’s local chapter of the Knights of Columbus, Council 10495, has contributed to other local organizations in the area including Special Olympics, Monarch, Life Span and GHA Autism Supports.