So something has come up, as often happens in my life. I’d like to ask this community to help a much-loved Bishop Maginn Teacher raise the money he needs to bury his son, who died last week.

The funeral home needs $5,000 for Kevin Reiss and his wife Mary to bury their 26-year-old son Milan, who died after a long and hard and costly struggle with Muscular Dystrophy. The cost of the funeral is $8,000 but they’ve raised just about $3,000.

Funeral homes are businesses, and they deserve to be paid, but it is wrenching to see a family plead for the money to bury a child.

The family’s GoFundMe page has already raised nearly $3,000, some family friends put up the page to help raise the additional $5,000 they need before they can bury Milan.

They have ready been crushed by heavy medical bills.

I just got the first 200 postcards  (above) of me and Red that I bought to send to people who helped Bishop Maginn buy Ipads and other school supplies for the school. I’d like to shift gears and use the postcards as a thank you for people who can help this heartbroken family bury their son.

In the past couple of years, many of us have been reminded that our country can be a cruel and angry place.

We are also reminding people that America can be a good and generous place.

In this conflict between our best and worst selves, we are all making a stand. I feel like I am a part of the Bishop Maginn community now, and Kevin and Mary Reiss are part of that community, so it seems natural to me to try to help them in their very dark hour.

I know many of you feel the same way, this little school with a big heart has touched all of us.

Teachers make very little money, and the family could not get life insurance for Milan because of his chronic illness. Their medical bills are staggering.

Tomorrow morning, I’m going to Albany to meet with Kevin and Mary at Bishop Maginn, and offer my support, and hopefully, that of the Army of Good. They are willing to be photographed.

I can’t speak for any of you, but I have seen evidence of your great hearts over and over again. Please feel free to say no, please feel free to help. Your choice, either choice is the right one.

There are two ways to help Kevin and Mary. One is to donate directly to the GoFundMe page set up by friends to help with Milan’s burial. You can do that right now. I’ll offer another option.

I’ve sent $100 to the GoFundMe page, it’s hard for me to wait until tomorrow.

If you want to avoid the GoFundMe fee and also receive a signed photo of the postcard above, taken of me and Red shortly before his death, you can send the donation directly to me and I will thank you by sending you a postcard.

I can hardly think of a better way to thank people or honor Red that helping this teacher bury his son.

If you send the donation to me – I will get it to the family immediately, no matter how little or how much is sent – I’ll get a postcard to you quickly as long as they last. And if they run out, I’ll get more.

There will be no fees or administrative costs, and any additional money will go to help the family pay Milan’s medical bills. I’m offering this option because I think Red and the postcard has some personal meaning for people, and it might help.

I need to say that this is new territory for me, and I might run out of postcards or not be able to keep track of every address that comes in. A lot of people loved Red.

So bear with me, I will want to get the money to the family as soon as possible, and the primary challenge for me is keeping track of the money, so please mark any contribution to me as “Milan Burial Fund.” That will make it easier. Fortunately, I have bookkeeping and accounting help.

You can send a donation to me via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz. Milan Burial Fund, P.O. Box 205, Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Please also feel free to send a donation to the family GoFundMe page, the family is in great agony,  if you’d rather, or if it’s easier. I certainly don’t want to keep the family waiting a day longer than is necessary. Every dollar will go straight to where it’s supposed to go.

I’ll post more when I get back from Albany tomorrow, and thanks as always for considering this. These are difficult times and we are making a powerful statement here. We practice love, compassion, and empathy.