The Mansion residents went on their much-anticipated boat ride with lunch and dancing on Lake George Today, 26 residents and aides in all, our biggest group yet. I wasn’t able to go along this year, I have to be in Saratoga Springs this afternoon, an appointment that can’t be moved or missed.

Thanks, Army Of Good, for funding this boat trip, it means so much to the residents, they talk about it all year.

I went by the Mansion for my meditation class this morning, forgetting almost all of the meditators were at Lake George, despite the cloudy and chilly and rainy day.

I wasn’t there long but ran into a number of needs, a revealing window into the idea of Small Acts Of Great Kindness, the cornerstone ideology of the Army Of Good, and the work we do that almost no one else does.

We fill in the holes in people’s lives.

First, there is Melissa, above, one of the hardest working and most loving of the Mansion aides. She is a single mother of two, lives near Albany, and I know well that it is like to maintain a house and two children as a single mother on a Mansion aide’s salary.

My mission at the Mansion is to help the aides when I can as much as the residents. They both can be needy at times, but the aides never ask for help.

One of the aides at the Mansion told me that Melissa was looking for wooden chairs so she and her children could sit at their dining room table. I got four for $130, they are on the way.

Melissa was stunned at the news and gave me one of the better hugs of modern times. I was moved by how grateful she was.

When I got to the Mansion, I found Georgianna sitting alone outside smoking a cigarette. Her friend Bert wasn’t feeling well, and her other pals were on the boat. It was a dreary day. As cheerful and upbeat as Georgianna is, I know she had a difficult and painful life. But I’ve never seen her that sad.

She admitted to being depressed, she didn’t really know why. This happens at the Mansion, sometimes people are up, sometimes down, I accept that as a part of their experience and the nature of their lives. But I had never seen Georgianna so sad.

I asked her if I could bring Fate over, but I realized I didn’t have time for that today, so I rushed out to the Battenkill Bookstore and got Georgianna a stuffed pig for $12. She loves small stuffed animals, and this one did the trick. She lit up and started talking to her new companion.

Melissa and I persuaded her to come into the Mansion Great Room, cuddle her pig, and watch some TV.  I left her with a big grin on her face. “This is what I needed,” she said. I’m often surprised by what seems to work, but this pig really did.

As I left  Georgianna, I ran into Pat, sitting out on the porch despite the chill. She is new to the Mansion, warm and friendly. I introduced myself, explained who I was and asked if there was anything she needed. Like most of the residents, she shook her head and said no, but then paused.

“I could use some pants,” she said, “I just have the one pair.” I asked about sizes, called my Thrift and Consignment Shop friends and am picking up three pairs of paints for Pat this afternoon. This should cost about $20.

I felt good about this visit, we have done a lot of good for little money in just a few minutes. This morning goes to the core of my idea about how to help the people we are trying to help. We can’t offer miracles, just small acts of kindness.

Because of this work, a much loved and valued and very hard working Mansion aide will soon be able to sit down to dinner with her children on nice wooden chairs, something she was struggling to be able to do.

We can’t offer a world where Georgianna will always be happy, but we can ease her loneliness and depression by giving her something soft and comforting to hold while she watches TV.

I can tell you that this matters.

And because of our work, Pat will have the warm pants she needs as the Fall arrives. It’s going to be near freezing tonight.

Thanks for making this possible. If you wish to keep this work going, please contribute via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Thanks and thanks.