This week, the Evangelist, the weekly magazine of the  Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, published a story by Franchesca Caputo thanking the Army Of Good for the extraordinary work you did helping the Bishop Maginn refugees and community when the coronavirus broke out.

Many of these families were left without food or income, and you bought nearly $20,000 worth of Price Chopper gift cards. I promised myself that no one in this community would go hungry, and because of you, that promise was kept.

The refugee families have never been more vulnerable in America than they are now, the federal government has cut almost all of the benefits they once received for a while when they came to America.

Now, they are on their own. They are fiercely independent and don’t ever seek charity, but seeing these kids be hungry is unacceptable to me and others.

Nobody went hungry because of the pandemic.  You did that. I think this is the most important work we have done. It made such a difference.

We also helped support the graduation that was finally possible after much grueling work.

We supplied pens, sashes, keychains, books, baseball caps, and candy jars to help these students have the kind of graduation they deserved.

You can read about this story here, the paper is online now. I am eager for all of you to see how appreciated you are for what you have done from someone other than me.

I can’t thank you enough for your support. I am continuing the Price Chopper Gift Card program, the urgency has eased for most families as the adults return to their jobs.

But food insecurity is a continuing problem in this community, I remember the children who show up early in their homerooms to get protein bars, apples, and juice from the teachers for breakfast.

It is common for these kids to have one meal a day, and it is not often warm

Please continue to support the gift card program if you can, we are setting up a permanent food fund with Sue Silverstein at the school, if families get in trouble, we hope to have some gift cards available. And the disruption caused by the virus is far from over.

You can buy a gift card here in any amount.

I am also giving gift cards to three aides at the Mansion who need some support now.

Because the school is not open yet, the cards need to be sent to me, Jon Katz, 2502 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. I will get them to Sue, and she will distribute them as needed.

If you don’t care to shop online, please feel free to send a donation to me, Jon Katz, via Paypal: [email protected], or by check,  Jon Katz, Gift Card Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

I’ll buy the gift cards and get them to Sue right away. And thanks.