The Mansion residents need your help. I learned this evening that due to the recent troubles with the building they are running seriously –  seriously low –  on soap, hair conditioner and anti-bacterial soap and liquid spray.

Two years ago, we send a whole lot of soap, bacterial and regular,  along with hair conditioner shampoo, to the Mansion.  It made an enormous difference to the residents and lasted a long time.

The Mansion is a Medicaid facility, and the people in the Mansion lived on  fixed monthly allowances, they are responsible for their personal needs like toiletries.  Some have family support, others don’t.

I spoke with a number of the residents then who were embarrassed or ashamed to have run out of their personal toiletries, the Mansion aides spoke up for them.

Sometimes, the residents run out of their allotted money in mid-month. These are proud people who have worked all of their lives and saved what they could, but as we all know, getting old in America is not easy or cheap. And for them, asking for help is sometimes very painful.

I learned that the Mansion aides, some of whom earn less than McDonald’s cashiers, were paying for these items out of their own pockets. So I sent out an alarm, and the Army Of Good filled up a whole cellar bookcase with bacterial and regular soap, shampoo and hair conditioner which has lasted a long time and been deeply appreciated.

This week, as the residents return from a month-long evacuation of the building due to serious flooding, the staff has found that their supply of soaps and shampoos has been pretty much used up – they sent much of it to the Danforth Adult Care Center where some of the residents were staying for a month, and some of it went to the residents staying in the Mansion and elsewhere.

I don’t know if any was damaged or displaced during the water troubles.

I went to the Rite-Aid pharmacy and the Dollar Store tonight and bought more than $100 in soaps and shampoos. But I have gone through much – not all – of the Mansion Fund this week.  This trouble lasted a long time.

Tomorrow we’re sponsoring a Chinese Food/ Music Homecoming Celebration, and today I bought a wide-screen TV for the Great Room. Those are both important things for the residents, but so is soap and shampoo.

In the past few weeks, I also purchased books, puzzles, flowers, stuffed animals etc. For the residents during this very wrenching time, this work made an enormous difference. Tonight, when I went over to check on the soap supply, I saw several of the newly returned residents crying, disoriented and anxious. It will take awhile to settle everybody down.

But I don’t want to blow out the fund, there will be additional needs in the coming days and weeks and there is about $500 left, I’m proud of that,  I want to keep that in reserve.

So if you can help out there, it would be great.

We are seeking regular soap, anti-bacterial soap or hand spray (like they use in doctor’s offices) and shampoo with hair conditioner. If you have new or unused soap or shampoo, or prefer to purchase some and send it, that would be most helpful: you can send it directly to: The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

I brought enough tonight to get the residents through the middle-of next week, and I will buy more if these supplies don’t last any longer. No one will be without soap and shampoo.

Any help would be appreciated, and thanks: The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

A number of you are asking for new residents lists, those will not be available for a few days, there has been a lot of flux and change. The residents are excited about tomorrow’s welcome home celebration. Thanks to Deb Hoffer of the Army Of Good for her Welcome Home pennant, all the way from Ohio. It is hanging in the Mansion Dining Room.