Ali and I were talking this week at RISSE, the immigrant and refugee support center in Albany, and he mentioned that he was planning a birthday party this weekend for Maung, a 12-year-old immigrant from Burma, and another member of the RISSE soccer team.

I asked Ali what he did at the parties and he said he got gifts for the birthday boys and some cake and cookies. He’s planning a party this weekend for two of the team members attended by the entire soccer team. What will this cost, I asked? He said $150 for gifts and food, sometimes more. Who has been paying for this, I asked?

He looked at me oddly, and said, well, I have. That morning, I had received two checks at my post office box in Cambridge (P.O. Box 2015, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816) totalling about $150 and the senders said I should use them to support the RISSE refugee kids in any way I thought was appropriate.

I have a better idea, I said to Ali. How about if I give you this check for $150 and you can use it for the birthday party?

Ali looked at me as if I fell out of a spaceship and he said, thank you, I think you dropped from heaven, you and the people on your blog. The parties are important to the kids, he said, they don’t get many gifts or have many celebrations. I handed him the check right there.

So we hatched this idea. There will be a number of other birthdays coming up in the soccer season – Ali isn’t sure how many – but not more than three or four, he thought. So we launched the birthday scheme, we will raise as much money as we can on the blog and pay for as much of the cost of the parties as we can.

If you wish to contribute, you can do so either by sending checks to me at my Post Office Box, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Payal to me through Friends And Family, [email protected]. There are a lot of you out there in the Army of Good, so some small contributions ought to do it. I will make up the shortfall if there is one and get to one or two of the parties to take some photos.

I like the birthday scheme, it will mean a lot to Ali and the refugee kids. Ali and RISSE are setting up a special page for donations to the RISSE Soccer team on their website, but I’m happy to collect some donations for unique, quick and immediate and unexpected needs like this. Maung’s birthday really can’t wait.

Bureaucracies can move slowly, birthday’s can’t wait. If you do contribute, please mark the check or donations to RISSE soccer for bookkeeping purposes. Thanks.