People often ask me why I am so focused on this work with refugees, and the Mansion residents, how do I get the energy and drive for it. I don’t really have a simple answer, any more than the obvious.

But I got a letter today from somewhere in the Northeast – I can’t say where – from an undocumented person working illegally in America.

I can’t give this woman’s name or address, and have already destroyed the letter. She said it was frightening to send it to me, but she trusted me. She said she was a refugee and  a “migrant” herself and I have been in those shoes.”

She  meant the refugee students at Bishop Maginn. She was sending me a crumpled and very worn $5 bill for the Bishop Maginn High School students, most of them refugees.

The enormity of this struck me, and went deep. Imagine this person, with all of the difficulties and fears she must face in her life, taking the time somehow – I can’t imagine how –  to read my blog and send me a donation. It is a shocking and beautiful thing to me, a reminder of just how important this work is.

The images of the drowned father and child in Texas challenged me to commit to this work and stand up for the values I believe truly represent my wonderful country.

The letter was written on a portion of spiral notebook paper in a small envelope with a stamp. The envelope was dirty and smudged, clearly this was a laborer of some kind, perhaps even a farm worker, or a house or hotel room cleaner.

I could only guess at how much this $5 must have meant to her, and I can tell you how much it meant to me. And yes, I did cry. I used to never cry, not a problem now.

At the beginning of the letter she said “you said small donations donations help too. People like me want to help those children at the Bishop Maginn school…thank you for letting me..”

I do thank you, your letter is like fuel for me, air to breathe, it fills me with hope and determination. I accept your $5 with gratitude and I went and bought a $10 gift card on  her behalf from the Bishop Maginn Amazon Wish List.

The list still has two laptops and about 12 microscopes, plus $10 and $25 gift cards. Small donations matter very much to me, everyone is welcome to contribute here and is valued. We have lots to do. And yes, small donations really do matter, we ordered a laptop this week with $10 gift card donations.

We are at the halfway mark with laptops and microscopes, I feel certain we will have what we need by September. And thanks.

If anyone out there also wants to help these refugee children, you can contribute via Paypal, [email protected], or by check or letter, Jon Katz, Maginn Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.