A new project has come to me, one that I hope to eagerly embrace and want to share with you.

In recent weeks, several private schools in the Albany area have approached me about helping them find a support a refugee girl or boy. I said I believed it was very important to choose a girl.

At least one donor at one school is considering offering a full scholarship to a gifted young refugee girl eager to get to college.

I think this is a beautiful idea, and I have begun contacting Albany schools and refugee organizations (so far, only one has gotten back to me) seeking possible names. As you know, the Army Of Good is supporting Sakler Moo’s tuition at the prestigious Albany Academy.

There is a $5,000 shortfall in the generous scholarship he was given, we are making up that difference for this year and the other three years he is in school.

We have raised more than half of that money for 2019 already, and most of the rest is pledged to me for next year.  Sakler is happy and doing well.

I can’t undertake another commitment of that scope, and wouldn’t ask the AOG to do that either, but I can held find some gifted female students, connect them with one of these schools and support them in any way that is helpful.

If we find promising candidates, I will connect them to the schools and help in any way I can.

I’ve met with administrators at three schools, and they are very serious about making their schools more diverse and bringing members of this community into their institutions. “We want to serve the underserved,” one school official told me.

I told the leaders of all of these schools that the refugee families have little or no money, and the scholarship needs to be full if it can work. A $5,000 shortfall  is the same as a rejection in most cases.

As I mentioned, several private donors might possibly be interested in filling that gap.

I want to keep our focus on small acts of great kindness.

I am especially drawn to small and individual and focused projects that alter lives and offer these children paths to success and security. And this project will not require any fund-raising as I  understand it (perhaps small amounts to help with supplies, or trips, etc.)

The refugees newly arrived in America are under siege and in great need. I  hope I can help get a bright and ambitious girl into a school with the resources to guide and educate her.