Warning, this is my bi-monthly request for support for my blog and my work, and the animals on Bedlam Farm.

I believe this has become more important than ever, to me, to struggling refugees and the forgotten elderly. I did not imagine three years ago that I would be up to my neck in this work in 2019.

We choose to help rather than hate. It feels so much better.

My books were for many years the focus of my life and work; now it is the Army Of Good work and my blog and the Mansion and Bishop Maginn High School.

I need your support for this work to continue.  When it is necessary, I ask for some help. That used to be upsetting for me, now it is just part of my good life.

I began this work in the Fall of 2016; I was drawn to try to support and protect immigrants and their families. I am the descendant of refugees; I feel that issue deeply.

At the same time, working with Red, I broke through in my search to find an elder care facility that was open to me and my camera and my stories and the way I work.

I found this welcoming and extraordinary place in the Mansion; a Medicaid assisted care facility in Cambridge, N.Y.

These two causes – refugee children and people at the edge of life – seemed to be a beautiful channel for my values and those of many others, as opposed to arguing, hating, and living in fear and division.

I believe it has worked. I never imagined it would take up so much of my time, but I am happier than ever and more at peace than ever.

To do this work, I had to give up my primary source of income – book publishing. My blog, the centerpiece of my creative life now, was no longer just a creative entity; it was also becoming my primary source of income.

Losing those advances and royalty checks has left me without much cushion.

My blog gets more than four million visits a year now. Of those, only a tiny fraction of readers contribute to the blog or supports it. That leaves much room for growth.

The blog is expensive to maintain. But it will always be free to anyone who wants to read it, whether they contribute or not. Contributions and subscriptions are not necessary to receive the mailed blog.

The farm is expensive to maintain as well – hay, repairs, firewood, broken fences, vet bills. So is my photography, almost all of which is offered for free. I don’t bookmark or copyright my work.

So I’m asking for your support for all this, as I do five or six times a year.

I do not like asking for money, but if I don’t, I will not be able to continue this work. Like most Americans, I live pretty much month-to-month, and I am not complaining, it’s just the reality of my life, and my choice for my life.

I am grateful for all contributions, but those $5 and $10 bills in my P.O. Box (P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816) lift my heart and give me strength.

If you can, please consider supporting my blog and my work. It is as safe as it is possible to be – no financial information of any kind is stored on my website or server; my sight is monitored by two of the best online security firms.

I pay to have the blog distributed freely to anyone who wishes to get it, there are the usual technical bumps and glitches with browsers and diverse devices, but mostly, it has worked out well.

There are several ways to help support my work.

One is a one-time donation in any amount via Paypal ([email protected]) or by check, Jon Katz, Blog Support, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Another is by yearly or monthly subscriptions using Paypal or major credit cards.

You can start, manage, or cancel your account at any time; I have no control over your money and no access to it. This policy is for your protection and my sanity. You can contribute as little as $5 a month or up to $75 annually, that is up to you.

And you don’t need to be rich to help. If the blog is useful to you, entertaining or thought-provoking on uplifting, please consider helping. I write four or five times a day, just about every single day of the year. I realized that I needed to be paid for this work, and am entitled to that from people who can afford it.

You can sign up for free (to you) e-mail blog delivery at the bottom of the Home Journal Page.

Our idea for staying grounded in this turbulent time – doing good rather than arguing about good – has proven successful, to me and others. We have carried out a thousand good deeds, and I plan to keep doing just what we are doing. With full transparency, we commit small acts of great kindness.

I believe this will be more important now than ever. I hope you can find it within yourselves and your means to stay with me on this mission. I am not a hater, I am not doing this out of hate, but out of love, which is a much more potent cause.

I believe we are fighting for the very soul of America, for the idea of helping the needy and the vulnerable, for the concept of empathy and compassion.

Please help out if you can. In all my life, I never asked other people for financial support; I always did that my self. We are all living in a new realm.

I am grateful for this opportunity to be better and to be a light unto the world, even as it sometimes darkens.