Two weeks ago, we helped purchase a $3,000 desperately needed disinfectant fogger system for the Mansion.

The final pieces are arriving today, and we believe this will take a great burden off of the hard-pressed aides and make it much easier to keep the Mansion free of any virus or bacteria, especially COVID-19, which is slaughtering so many elderly people.

Today, I’m asking for help in buying a much less expensive – $369 –   ULV Inmaker Fogging Machine, a simpler but highly rated disinfectant system for hotels, schools, hospitals, restaurants, even shopping malls. This would be for Bishop Maginn.

The system is non-toxic, easy to use,  and if they wish, the school can easily make their own disinfectant spray out of water and salt and vinegar. I know one teacher who would love to teach the students how to do that.

Bishop Maginn hopes to re-open in September, and they don’t have a full-time maintenance staff, so Principal Mike Tolan and the teachers (and maybe me) will need to regularly disinfect the principal’s office, the lobby, and the small number of classrooms that will be used under the new safety system.

The portable Fogger Machine costs $369.99. I’d also like to purchase at least three one-gallon containers of pure and clean Hypochlorous Acid, used by medical professionals to disinfect hospital rooms and doctors’ offices. These cost $79.99 each. Fifteen seconds after a surface is sprayed, 99.99 of bacteria or viruses are killed.

The foggers hold 1.3 gallons of spray at a time,  each gallon should last a couple of weeks. I’d like to buy as many as possible, as the school will have an even smaller budget than usual. That is saying something.

The Mansion is a very old, sprawling, multi-story wooden building with all kinds of cracks and crevices.

The areas the school needs sprayed are open and accessible, much easier to use. They will not be using all of their space in the fall. Unlike the Mansion system, this one will not need any extensive electrical work to operate.

Without a fogger, the staff, like the Mansion aides, will have to wipe every surface where students go several times a day, and that will take hours and also be hit-or-miss. It also damages the surfaces that are rubbed repeatedly.

I’ve been urging the school to consider a fogger for some weeks now, and I think we are all in agreement.

The fogger sprays can disinfect a room in seconds safely – there are no chemicals, just natural disinfectant. Nathan McKenzie from the Mansion Maintenance staff has been advising me, and I appreciate his help in choosing the right one.

So I would appreciate any help you might be able to offer.

I’ve been steering your donations towards gift cards, which are keeping the Bishop Maginn Family from being hungry. If we run out of gift cards, they don’t eat. (You can learn about the gift cards here.)

Many are sick and most have lost their jobs. The economic consequences to these families will be long and hard. And for the school to open, they must be able to disinfect key areas regularly and thoroughly. It’s hard to do with Lysol spray alone.

Social workers say the virus has gone through these families like “wildfire,” so many of the refugee adults clean hospitals and doctor’s offices for a living.

If you can and wish to contribute to the purchase of the fogger, please do so via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Maginn Fogger, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

The fogger I want – Mike Tolan said he would love to have it – is in stock and can be at Bishop Maginn soon, so they can get used to using it by Fall, or perhaps sooner.

Thanks so much for considering this.