Today, I received $600 in Price Chopper Gift Cards for the students and families at Bishop Maginn High School, who are struggling with hard times and need help in order to eat well and three times a day.

Thanks to you, this program is ongoing and will continue. You can learn the details here. The families are in great need. We can use all the gift cards we can get. Just make sure they are sent to me, Jon Katz, 2502 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

This week, we raised $3,000 to buy a Disinfectant Fogger for the Mansion, Nathan McKenzie, the Director of Maintenance, has ordered the fogger and is getting final clearance from New York State. Nathan McKenzie, the father of this great mission, says they will be fogging on Thursday.

This mission is precious, we are fighting to keep the Mansion residents safe from the awful virus killing so many older people in nursing homes and eldercare institutions.

I’ve bought $400 worth of toys for the Mansion aides whose children are at home and can’t go to school. The kids asked for Magic Sand, a surprise, an XBox1 gift card, kites, outdoor ball games, a race track for a five-year-old, and an Urban Shop Saucer Chair.

I’ve hired Jean’s Place to bring a special lunch to the Mansion once a week. The lunches are a huge hit. We also purchased easels and sold out an art supplies Wish List.

Friday, I’m beginning a weekly Ice Cream Sundae treat for the residents. I’m getting computer speakers for Peggie, and stamps for Sylvie and Bert.

I sent $300 in grocery gift cards to a Mansion aide who got a cold and is undergoing mandatory state testing for the coronavirus.

She has no symptoms of the  virus but the state requires anyone with so much as a sniffle to stay home for two weeks and get tested.

I’m making sure she and her two children have enough to eat until she gets back to work.

I’m also teaching a class for home-bound Bishop Maginn High School writers called “Life Interrupted,” we aim to write a book together so the students can tell their own stories of disruption, fear, and isolation from the other side.

The class is being held on the Google classroom set up by Bishop Maginn so the children can keep on learning.

I hope to self publish the book on Amazon and in local bookstores.

I guess I need to think about asking for support for my blog, there has been so much need out there I really haven’t had a chance to think about that.  I ask for blog support every few months, as my bank account suggests.

The blog is the foundation of this enterprise, and it now pretty much my only income – this is full-time work.

I am on the phone or online all day raising money or getting food and supplies to people. I think I need to start a small fund to keep this all going (the farm too) if things get worse or uglier.

Many of you are asking about Isla, the young immigrant farmworker in search of food. I bought her several hundred dollars worth of grocery gift cards and steered her to a lawyer in Saratoga Springs who has a job for her.  We got her through a very tough time, and I don’t expect to hear from her again.

So if you care to support my blog at some point (and can do so comfortably,) you can send a contribution to me via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Bedlam Farm Support, P.O.Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

I’m not really comfortable writing this when so many people are in dire need, but the blog is the engine that runs this shop, and I want to keep it strong and secure. This could all go on for a while.

Thanks. We are doing a lot of good, and have pivoted quickly and effectively to the new reality facing so many people. I thank you very much, you are all the real deal.