Sa Lin and his family need help if he is to remain in Bishop Maginn High School this year and his family is to have enough to eat.

I feel strongly about Sa Lin. No American family – no family anywhere – should have to choose between food and education for their children.

In a sane and seemingly remote world, Sa Lin’s family should be safe and recovering by now. They fled Burma (Myanmar) in 2016, they lived among many thousands of Rohingya Muslims who were slaughtered, and three-quarters of a million fled Burma to refugee camps in Thailand.

Surviving one of the earth’s worst genocides in modern times should have been enough. It isn’t. Sa Lin’s family has been suffering food insecurity for some months now, but didn’t ask for help. A social worker did.

Pa Lin is a freshman at Bishop Maginn High School. A social worker who tries to help the family sent a message to me through a school teacher.

“This family really needs help, ‘ she wrote. “Both parents work in more than one job cleaning hospitals and office buildings; they have $400 a month for food and bills to support Pa Lin and his brothers and sisters. Can you find some people to help them? The family is paying the school $150 a month. It’s all they can afford.”

I checked out this story.  Pa Lin needs $1,400 to get him safely through to the end of 2021. The social worker was hoping for a couple of hundred dollars. I told her I think we can do better than that.

According to Sue Silverstein, Sa Lin loves the school, is a devoted soccer player, has made some good friends, and is loved by teachers and students as a sweet and courteous human being.

It always amazes me how forgiving the refugee childrden are, athough the Myanmar students are deeply upset by the military coup that just occurred in that country.

Earlier this year, I met with Sa Lin and asked if there was anything he wanted. Yes, he said, mechanical pencils, he loves to draw.

I’m hoping we can raise $1,400 for Sa Lin and his family.

I’ve already sent $600 in food gift cards to Albany for the family to use at Wal-Mart. If you wish to send some more cards, that will help also.

These donations can be sent directly to Bishop Maginn High School, so they are tax-deductible. The school will send donors a tax certificate and ID no.

Tax-deductible donations can go to Mike Tolan, Principal, Bishop Maginn High School,  Tuition Fund for Sa Lin, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202.

Sa Lin’s family lost people, savings, homes, and nearly their lives. They lost everything. Now, in this troubled year for the vulnerable, they risk losing everything again.

They live crowded into a small apartment in Albany’s center; on cold nights, they sleep on the floor in one room to save on heating bills. On top of Covid-19, the Trump administrations’ war on refugees and immigrants, they are struggling through a winter, unlike anything they experienced in Myanmar.

Every dollar that goes to tuition takes a dollar away from the food they can purchase.

To me, they are heroic. But they could use some help. I hope the fact that these donations are tax-deductible will help. Mike Tolan, Sa Lin Tuition, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, New York, 12202.

If you’d prefer to send gift cards, you can buy them here, and send them to me, Jon Katz, 2502 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

If you prefer, I can buy them; you can donate to me via Paypal, [email protected] or Venmo, [email protected], or a check to Jon Katz, Refugee Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

A reminder that all donations sent directly to the school are tax-deductible.

I learned today that my blog was viewed 3,607, 092 times last year. Small amounts are as valuable as larger ones.

My idea has always been this: large numbers of people contributing small amounts of money. We can do a lot of good without hurting people, and radically change the way people can help one another.

The social worker hoped we could raise a couple of hundred dollars for Sa Lin. I believe we can get him all the way through this year and help his family buy all the food they need as well.

This is a challenging year for Bishop Maginn.

Many of their students can’t pay full tuition this year; many can only pay a small amount. The Catholic schools have their own money troubles, some of the students at Bishop Maginn may have to leave next year if they can’t at least pay something.

Almost all of the refugee families have suffered from the severe cutbacks in federal support over the past four years. Hopefully, that can change.

We can’t help them all, but we can help some, the ones we are asked to help by the people who know them best – teachers and social workers. We put the money we have where it can do the most good.

Sa Lin is a worthy investment, say all the people who know him and his family.

This family is doing everything new American citizens should be. They take English language courses, work several jobs, pay taxes, and fight every day for their children to lead meaningful lives.

Thanks for helping if you can, and considering it if you do. I think we can help this family in need.