Last year, we (the Army Of Good) helped Ni Lar Way, a refugee from the horrors of the Myanmar genocide, graduate from Bishop Maginn High School as the school’s Salutatorian, the student who ranks second highest in a graduating class and delivers the salutatory, a speech meant to inspire the class.

Today, she wanted to repay the favor.

We paid for Ni Lar Way’s tuition so she could finish her school year, and we also paid the tuition for her equally gifted and bright sister. Money so richly and productively spent, we are sending an angel out into the world.

Ni Lar Way is scheduled to attend Russell Sage College in Schenectady, N.Y., this September (that is somewhat in doubt now), she wants to be a nurse. Like so many of the refugee children, she saw her home and life destroyed and her family flee to a refugee camp, where she spent the first years of her life.

When she came to Bishop Maginn as a first-year student, she could barely speak English. By the time she graduated, she was able to give a fluent and powerful speech in flawless English.

Ni Lar way is also a musician, and she sang this song When A Storm Comes” as a thank you and hopefully, some support in these unnerving, sad, and sometimes frightening days. She is deeply religious. Her faith is an inspiration and comfort.

The inspiration for this song came from a psalm, 91:4 in the New Testament:  He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings, you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
It is very beautiful and very powerful.  I hope it touches you in the way it touched me and Maria this morning. She has a beautiful voice and is so pure in spirit.

Please help me help these beautiful children, struggling now to help feed their families and hoping and working to continue their education. We are supporting the school’s new Mobile Classroom (I’m teaching a writing class now) by purchasing laptops and cables and virtual educational materials.) We’re also keeping 30 to 40 families from going hungry.

You can help in two ways – by supporting our Price Chopper Gift Cards program or by donating to our Refugee Fund: via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, P.O.   Box 205 Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. This fund buys equipment, educational tools, books, and sometimes, warm clothes and shoes.

If you choose to purchase gift cards – in any amount – you can do so here. Please make sure they are sent to me at the farm, Jon Katz, 12502 State Route 22,  Cambridge, N.Y. 12816, as they can’t be delivered to the school or to any post office box right now. You can purchase them in any amount.

If your purchase is $300 or more, you may have to activate them by e-mail a couple of days after their purchase, depending on the mood of the Price Chopper software.

If you are uncomfortable purchasing things online, you can send the contribution to me, and I’ll gladly buy them for you. Via Paypal, [email protected] or by check, Jon Katz, Refugee Food, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.