I want to thank you for the help you so generously gave to “P” a refugee student at Bishop Maginn High School who went to an urgent care center after he caught a cold and was charged $175 for a Covoid-19 test.

I wanted to give you all an update on what has happened to the money I was sent.

A school nurse sent P home from the school for testing, as state health regulations require when he showed up for school with a cold. The private care center didn’t tell him that the University of Albany would test him for free, they were just a few blocks away.

P had to pay first to get the test results, which were negative.

The money wiped out the family’s grocery budget for the month. The family was in a panic and they asked the school for help. The school asked me, for which I am grateful.

Your response was swift and wonderful. I sent an envelope Friday that contained $200 for the Covoid test, $300 for food for this month and next, and $150 in Price Chopper and  Wal-Mart gift cards.

The packet arrived today and was given to the family.

I saved the additional $500 sent to me over the weekend for an emergency fund for P and for his family and for other hunger issues that might arise.

I’ll keep the money in a special account I’ve opened for food and other emergencies as the virus returns to Albany, and some of the refugee families as their unemployment benefits run out and some new layoffs are underway.

The virus hits these families very hard in many different ways.

We’ve identified five or six families – about 30 people – in the Bishop Maginn Community as being food insecure. One member of the Bishop Maginn staff is also struggling to feed her family.

I’ll keep the food fund donations for food issues only, and the fund will allow me to react quickly. I need to keep a reserve on hand. I’ve found that the best way to deal with this issue is gift cards from Price Chopper and Wal-Mart.

The refugee families rely on these two chains for food and personal supplies like toiletries.

Any gift cards sent to me will be held as needed and sent quickly to Sue Silverstein, who is our contact with these families. When they are in dire trouble, they know to come to her, and she will come to me.

The school has no budget or funds to help, and they are not permitted now to pass out healthy snacks and juice at breakfast. So Sue will give the mothers the gift cards when asked.

You can purchase Price Chopper Gift Cards here, and Wal-Mart gift cards here.

They need to be sent to me, Jon Katz, 2502 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, if you would rather I buy the cards, you can send donations to me via Paypal, [email protected] or to Jon Katz,  P.O.  Box, 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Some of the gift cards also go to several Mansion aides and their families, those who are also facing food security issues. My current stock of gift cards is just about gone, I have three left.

I’m working to replenish it.

Thank you so much.

I am monitoring this situation closely and will keep an eye on P and his family and any others who are in urgent need of help. The refugee families are extremely reluctant to ask for help, they often feel ashamed or prideful or not entitled.

We have broken through some of those reservations and most do ask for help now when they really need it. If P hadn’t gotten that cold, we might not have known they were going hungry.

I am grateful for your support. P and his family are secure for now, thanks to you.