Refugee Committee Warehouse Overflow

I think, when all is said and done, that I have a choice to make, every day of my life, especially now.

Do I put good out there, or do I put argument argument the other garbage spewing all over the ether every day, from social media to the White House to the news? That is my choice, every today.

We are polluting the earth with many things, hatred and judgment and fear and lies and self-righteousness.

We can, if we choose, put good out there, and so far, in 2017, the Army Of Good is off to a good start.

We helped purchase welcome bags for refugee children. We have brightened the lives of the Mansion Assisted Care Facility Residents with messages and gifts. We are helping to send Maria to Kolkata, India to help the victims of sex trafficking there. She leaves on  February 16.

We are currenty donating desperately needed household items to arriving refugees. They are scrambling to get in under the wire.

The Army of Good has flooded the refugee committee warehouse with gifts from their special inexpensive and easy-to use Amazon page, they are rushing your donations to the refugees today, before rumored government crackdowns and before the families actually arrive in their waiting apartments.

You can do a lot of good for very few dollars. This is an important new way to give, we know precisely where our money is going and what for.

I was delighted to get this message this morning from Anne, who is helping co-ordinate aid for the refugees as they begin their new lives. Many are frightened about America right now. These donations will send a truer message about us.

“This photo,” she said, “is from the warehouse volunteers. They have had to stack boxes up in the hallways! This should give you a great big smile. Everything went right out the door to refugee apartments. Considering that refugees are given $900 to purchase everything they need to outfit an apartment, including personal items (and they have to pay that back), these boxes are truly a gift.”

The boxes are just Tuesday’s Amazon delivery.

That did bring a smile to my face.  Today is already a good day, and it’s still morning. I do not live by what politicians do or don’t do, I live by what I do or don’t do.I think of the families who will have tablecloths and bowls and blankets and towels and soap waiting for them in their new apartments because of you.

I am eager to show them what the hearts of Americans are really like.

And I’m sorry (not really) to tell the volunteers that they haven’t yet seen the half of it.

I am looking forward to meeting some of the refugee families as a mentor and volunteer, and to write about them. They are really like us, I am told, they are like Americans. They are not here illegally, they have not come to harm us, they have been carefully screened and investigated and waited years to come here. They have lost everything, left everything behind to get to America. They need everything.

The best thing about this photo is that it was taken two days ago, and there are many more Amazon boxes on the way, The U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants set up their Amazon Page this week to list the inexpensive and desperately needed items for these families.

Several hundred are coming to my area and are beginning to arrive. The government is reportedly planning to shut down immigration from a number countries today, I am glad these families made it.

We all have our own issues, and are entitled to our own opinions and I am not looking to argue politics here.

But this issue strikes home deeply for me as it does for many, if not all Americans.

Except for Native-Americans, we are all descended from immigrants and refugees, welcoming them and offering refuge is embedded deeply in the American soul.  I gave my daily donation (an $8 item)  this morning in memory of my grandmother Minnie Cohen who fled Russia and sacrificed greatly so that her children could live and come to America.

I would almost surely not be alive if not for her courage and  faith.

She talked often of seeing the shores of America for the first time, and of weeping for joy. She said it was the first time in years she allowed herself to breathe freely. Safe at last, a place where her children could escape tyranny and poverty and pursue opportunity and freedom. Only in America, she said, only in America. She was never again to fear her government.

I hope I can pay something back for her bravery. In some ways, we seem as a people to  have become selfish and hardened by disappointment and fear. That is a painful thing to see.

I also hope this spirit of generosity and asylum returns in every way. From these gifts, I know it is still very much alive, and I thank you. I want to keep the torch in the lady’s hand lit.

The donations are inexpensive, as little as $6 or $7 and no higher than $35.

The families, many experiencing winter for the first time, need the simple things of life: soap, towels, blankets, silverware, pots and pans, teapots and coffee makers. You can see the list here.

I am deeply sorry that some in America are turning their backs on the idea of our country as a welcoming place for the weary and the oppressed. By donating these household items to the refugee families, you are beginning the perhaps long and arduous road of bringing the good stuff back.

If you can, please mark the gifts Attn: Jake. If you can’t, no worries. When you choose your donation, a box should appear listing the warehouse address on top and your own address beneath it. All you have to do is check the box that lists the USCRI warehouse in Albany. If there are any problems or confusion, please contact Amazon Customer Service. They are easy to reach and notoriously helpful.

The system seems to be working perfectly.