Beth lives in a small town in Iowa, I got her letter this morning in my Post Office Box. She enclosed a $5 bill, something I see more and more in my post office box, this has become something of a sacred morning ritual for ma.

“Dear Jon,” she wrote by hand on a pretty card with photograph of trees in the snow, “thanks for your work with the Mansion residents. You and the Army Of Good make a huge difference in the residents and staff’s lives! Here is a small contribution toward that work,” Beth.

There is something about the $5 people and their simple, honest messages that touches my heart and lifts up my soul. I think of them as angels and cherubs, living all over the country, often in small towns in places I will most likely never see, beams of light from people I will never meet.

I think of all the e-mails I get, so easy to send, and I think of these $5 bills, they take some time and work and energy. People with little money, it would be so easy for them to simply look away, but they take some of the little money they have and send it to me across the country to help the Mansion residents or a refugee child.

They remind me that people are good, and seek to do good They remind me that people of faith – and there are many out there – wish to reach out and help the needy and the poor and the vulnerable.

How can I be pessimistic about our country or the world when there are people like Beth who send me $5 – and so many people have sent more – there is a $5 bill in my post office box almost every day.

People write to say they wish they could send more, they are sometimes embarrassed to send so small an amount, but the truth is, some of these messages mean the most, they just don’t know it. Their gifts are not small, they are huge.

I’ve decided to write about the $5 people every I get a $5 bill, to remind me and others to be hopeful, these letters touch my heart ever single day. Beth’s $5 will go to buy some stamps for Sylvie, and some tissues for Jane.

Help for the Mansion is appreciated. You can contribute in any amount via Paypal, [email protected]. I do especially love these letters and their simple and generous and loving messages: Jon Katz, Mansion/Refugee Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Thank you, Beth, you are an angel send to keep light shining in our world.