Once or twice a week, I gather in the hallway on the East side of the Mansion building. I don’t quite know how the word spreads, perhaps it’s the sight of Red coming down the hallway to greet the residents, he usually sticks his head in the Activity Room.

In a few minutes, there is a short line waiting to speak to me.  I sometimes feel like a priest in a parish, or some kind of Godfather with the power to approve requests.

They just know that I am there. They look for me and wait for me.

They come with lists and simple requests, small things that they need and can’t quite find or get anyone to bring them. Most of the people are the poorest  residents in the Mansion, those with little spending money and few, or no, family visitors.

One woman came out of her room and whispered for me to come in so we wouldn’t be heard. “I’m gaining weight,” she said, “and I need two pairs of sweatpants,” she told me the size she wore. She told me could pay me back for them in a week or so when her social security check came in, I told  her there was no charge.

This is a familiar ritual for me, almost all of the residents offer to pay me, they have a check coming in, a child who will give them money, a debt they are owed. I know they can’t pay me, I just tell them not to worry about it, and I never hear about it again.

An aide told me they were worried about an older resident who had no summer night-clothes, she wore a flannel nightshirt to bed at night and sweltered. They said the needed longish longer cotton nightshirts, they told me the size. Red and I visit her often.

Sylvie was waiting to ask me for a canvas bag to  hold her papers and pens and  notecards and letters. What kind, I asked? Oh, any kind, she said, as long as it didn’t  have words or slogans that might offend her church, she is a Jehovah’s Witness. I am Sylvie’s correspondence adviser, I supply her with envelopes, notecards, stamps and pens so she can answer the letters from her friends from the blog. This is an important part of her life now.

And finally, Ruth told me her husband Ken was in a nursing home and would need some sweatpants when he came back to the Mansion. An aide had mentioned that to me earlier.

I love these moments, when people line up to give me their lists. They know – at long last – that they can trust me to take care of these small needs, and I am grateful that they trust me, this is precious to me. Small acts of great kindness, we fill the small holes in their lives.

The women’s sweatpants cost $5.00 apiece, I got them at one of my favorite Thrift Shops. That was $10.

I don’t like to buy intimate things at a thrift shop, I like to get them online, i like them new and spotless. I want to be able to vouch for them. I decided to buy the two s on Amazon, there was a wide selection an I liked the looks of them. I can’t stand to give people at the Mansion clothes that don’t fit them.

I found two light blue nightshirts that came down almost to the ground. They cost $12.99 apiece.

I rooted around a bit for Sylvie’s tote bag, I found a sturdy canvas bag – 22″ with an extra-large zipper and an  outer pocket. I think she’ll like it, and if she doesn’t, she’ll tell me. it cost $12.98.

And I bought two new pairs of sweat pants for Ruth’s husband Ken, I got them on Amazon, they cost $14.57 each. I didn’t like the ones I saw at a Thrift Shop, they didn’t seem clean to me,  these will fit him and last.

The  items on the Mansion lists are always  small and modest, they are never expensive or too expensive. It is the small things that smooth a life and bring comfort and ease.  And I so value their trust it is  not easy for them to ask for things, their bodies might be struggling but their pride is strong and healthy. I find that many of the residents would suffer for a long time rather than ask for help.

I’ll have all these things in hand and at the Mansion by Wednesday, just in time for the next list.

Thanks so much for your support for the Mansion residents. In the next two weeks, a group of residents will travel to the Via Aquarium in Rotterdam, N.Y. to see the fish and  aquatic exhibits there.

The following week, in July, they will take a one hour boat ride around Lake George on the Minnie-Ha-Ha Steamship. Both trips are courtesy of the Army Of Good. And thanks, your generosity made these trips possible. I wish you could see their excitement.

. Both trips together will cost around $250. I have the money on hand for them.