Sue Silverstein send me this photo from Bishop Maginn this morning.

The gifts from the Bishop Maginn Christmas Amazon Wish List arrived en masse today. “What a wonderful Christmas these children will have because of the Army Of Good,” she wrote.

Some of the parents who passed along their kid’s Christmas wishes were crying, I’m told, when they saw these gifts,  and overwhelmed with gratitude. You’ve not only brought joy to the children at Christmas but for their hard-working but embattled parents.

Thank you so much.

This is the spirit of America that I know and love.

These are the gifts the refugee kids wanted for Christmas, the gifts their parents couldn’t afford. Two of the people needing help for their children’s gifts were teachers. This will brighten the Christmas of these kids, and the photo certainly will brighten my holiday.

I’m going to pin this up on my study wall to remind me of the good we are doing, and also of what Christmas is really about.

Thank you so much.  As always, I will document the things you pay for with photos and words.

(If you wish to contribute to this ongoing  Christmas work – the refugee children and other needy students at Bishop Maginn, or the wonderful Christmas work happening at the Mansion – you contribute via Paypal, [email protected] or by check, Jon Katz, Mansion/Refugee Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Here’s what we are doing.

I’m raising money – $900 – to give each of the 18 Mansion aides a $50 Gift Certificate from Wal-Mart. I’m almost there.

I’d like to reach out to two teachers at Bishop Maginn who I know are struggling with money this Christmas and who have multiple children,  but don’t want to ask for anything. They say all the money should go to the students.

I think I want to give them gift certificates in their name so they have no choice but to use them. I’m not sure of the amount, it depends on the donations.

I’m sprucing up the Christmas decorations at the Mansion, they haven’t been updated in many years – new LED lights, no decorations for the tree. I’ve purchased $125 in new lights and decorations so far.

I want to help the residents who wish to buy small and inexpensive gifts for their friends and for the aides. And there are three new residents who need some help with clothes.

Last week, I got a bag of hairbrushes, the ones we got last year are all gone. I’m also helping to support the Mansion’s annual Christmas party.

I have an ongoing Winter Clothing Fund – blankets, socks, scarves, hats, gloves, boots, jackets, even sleeping bags. I had $700 in the fund, I’m down to $150. This will run all winter, the neediest people don’t ask for help until it really gets cold.

Christmas is about giving, not getting, at least in my mind. I’m feeling it. Thanks for your help, you make all of this good possible.