at our Friendly Neighborhood WalMart (home of low prices!) the Knights of Columbus (aka Roman Catholic Church aka Great & Abominable Whore of the Earth) wearing K of C vests
was collecting $ for Special Olympics ...
Has ChurchCo ever done anything like this as an endorsed activity?
I sincerely doubt it, but maybe if SL/COB was asleep someday, maybe a local loose cannon Bp or SP slipped this one in...
The LDS church gives little, estimated at 1/10 of 1%, to charity. They no longer operate any hospitals, and zero charities--no soup kitchens, no food pantries, no shelters. I give to people like Shriners, who famously help children with complicated and expensive medical problems. I can't vouch for KofC. Also, speaking of Shriners and other sects of Freemasonry, Scottish Rite Masons also do good works for kids. The Morg sleeps through this kind of stuff, preferring instead to gather dividends.
A few years ago a group of three Utah Stakes got together for the church wide Day of Service and somehow got permission from the stake presidents to sponsor a "Giant Yard Sale". Members were encouraged to donate unused items. The very successful sale raised over $10,000 for a domestic violence transitional housing program. The church encouraged those who had held successful projects to submit info to the Church News for publicity. The yard sale was deleted from the news because "the members should have donated their items to Deseret Industries". Their church, their rules. (By the way anything not sold at the giant sale was donated to DI)
...instead of offering help to those who are in immediate and critical need, they concentrate on having an office which looks to fleece the elderly members of their retirement and financial assets; (upon death, of course). I mean, let's get our priorities straight.