By  Franchesca Caputo, Staff Writer, The Evangelist, Albany, N.Y.

“I was first introduced to author Jon Katz last year upon learning how he put his 11-week-old golden Labrador, Zinnia, to work. Students of Katz’s writing workshop at Bishop Maginn High School trained her to become a therapy dog on a weekly basis. 

Zinnia would eventually go on to visit the elderly at various hospice centers. This kind of work was not foreign to Katz. This year I would learn about his Army of Good — a group stemming from Katz’s three million readers who visit his blog annually, bedlamfarm.com. Katz established the army with only one goal in mind: to do good rather than argue about what good means. 

When he put the call out to help Bishop Maginn students during the pandemic, his personnel responded rapidly. Within four days, the army raised enough money for 27 laptops for children who didn’t have a home computer.

Educational needs weren’t the only shortage met. Within a few weeks, nearly $16,000 in Price Chopper gift cards were mailed to students and their families, many of whom are first-generation immigrants. While this news in itself was inspiring, hearing Katz speak about his love for the school and all who inhabit it felt refreshing, and with no previous ties to the school, somewhat of a rarity.

The determined, soft-spoken Katz cast a ripple effect on the lives who needed help the most, simply by replacing politics with practicality. “

I want to thank Francesa Caputo for including Zinnia and I in her year-end review for the Evangelist, the Catholic Diocese weekly published in Albany, N.Y.

Zinnia was a pup then, but she took to Bishop Maginn as a second home. She is certainly loved there. In fact, the students in my writing class helped me to train her in dog therapy work.

Actually, by now, the Army of Good has sent $20,000 more in gift cards to Bishop Maginn students and families and $6,000 in medical and safety supplies to help keep the school safe during the pandemic.

No BMHS family has gone hungry this year or will go hungry next year. We’ve also bought school supplies and more than $1,000 worth of Christmas gifts and disinfectant foggers.

Thanks for these good words Francesca, this was the day Zinnia made her debut at Bishop Maginn – it feels like eons ago. As the vaccines come out, Zinnia and I will be returning to our regular Bishop Maginn visits.

What a gift it has been for me to spend time at the high school, get to teach there, get to know the students and staff. And to meet Francesca, I appreciate her writing very much.

I can’t thank the Army Of Good enough for their support for this work. You have all made an enormous difference in the lives of the needy and the vulnerable. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And I will remind Maria that I am “soft-spoken,” she might disagree.

You can see the rest of Francesca’s year-end piece right here.