So I’m changing for good, and wanted to give you good people an update, since these changes affect many of you as well as me.

I’m shifting the focus of my good deeds.

My good friend Ali is being pursued by sponsors for the soccer team who have a lot more money than I have, and live a lot closer.  And good for him.

As it happens, this meshes well with some changes I have been hoping to make in my own world of good works.

The soccer team is very expensive to sponsor, and I had to fund raise more than I am comfortable with, for my good and also for the good of people who are sending me money. I don’t mind asking for financial support, but I don’t wish to have to do it every day. I had the feeling I was having to do it too often for my comfort level.

Ali wants the team to live to the fullest, he has the right to his dream. The soccer team is comprised of some of the most wonderful people, I will always be on hand to help them if they need help. I have come to love these kids.

The Army Of Good is not rich, and neither am I.

I want to be thoughtful and careful. I was to stay small, and be transparent and cautious. We don’t do miracles, we perform small acts of great kindness.

Every other day, I get envelopes with $5 and $10 from good people with big hearts all over the country. Those crinkled and faded bills remind me every day to respect these people and be mindful of them.

As the members of the Army Of Good know, I want to keep these enterprise small and manageable. Small acts of great kindness. The soccer team needs a year-long and deep-pocketed sponsor, Ali has made the team into something powerful and wonderful and it deserves every penny it can get.

This year we did two big things: we purchased a van, went on a dozen outings, and are also helping to send Sakler Moo to an expensive private school as well as outfitting a large, hungry and dedicated team.

I have no wish to stand in their way, Ali has done the most outstanding work, and I am grateful for the experience of working with him and being his friend.

I think we helped get the soccer team to a great place, and I thank Ali and all of you for your support. Time to get out of the way.

I  certainly intend to keep on doing some refugee and immigrant work, it is important to me.

I am committed to getting Sakler Moo annual tuition assistance – between $5,000 and $6,000 a year – throughout his four-year term at the Albany Academy, and Monday I am meeting with officials there to see if we can’t get another one or two refugee kids into the school with full scholarships. I am hopeful.

That will take some time and work and money and I want to pursue it.

it’s the best way I can see to be meaningful and really change lives for these children.

I think that’s a good focus for me, and of course The Mansion will remain the other focus, I feel closer than ever to that amazing place and want very much to continue supporting the staff in their work and the residents in their lives.

I will never turn my back on the Mansion.

We have done a lot of good in the past year, I want to do even more, but in a more focused (and less expensive) way. I don’t wish to be a full-time fund-raiser, but I will continue to see money for the focused causes I have mentioned.

So in that vein, if you wish to contribute to this good work, you can send a donation to Jon Katz, P. O. Box 205,  Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Small contributions are welcome (big ones also). Please mark the payments for “The Mansion.”

And thanks. This feels good, liberating and exciting.