There’s a lot going on at once in our normally orderly little world, so I wanted to update the Army of Good about where we stand as the holiday season looms.

Sewing Machines: We have raised enough money for the first wave of sewing machines for Bishop Maginn.

I ordered three today, and am planning another order tomorrow. Sue Silverstein is trying to figure out how she will incorporate sewing lessons into her classless. and into the refugee community.

Maria has offered to teach some of the classes, and Sue is considering an after-school special program. If the refugee families need sewing machines to make their clothes or repair them, we may buy more for those people. Their children can learn to sew in school and then help out at home. Sewing is a huge factor in the lives of these refugees, the machines could be a great gift.

Thanks for your generosity. Any additional money that comes in tonight or is mailed over the next few days will go to additional machines as this opportunity has now presented itself, or to toys and emergency supplies for new refugees and for Christmas gifts.

The Afghan Refugees. According to a refugee coordinator I just spoke with, there are now 60 Afghan refugee families in the Albany area. More are coming. All of the families have shelter and housing, a number of different church and non-profit organizations are mobilizing to help them.

The Army Of Good and Bishop Maginn High School have paired up to open a free store in the school, which is being stocked with blankets and clothes, perishable food, blankets and towels, and pillows and comforters. We understand that we are too small to take on all of the needs or expenses of the new refugees, we both focus on what we can do – small acts of great kindness. We’re divvying up the needs.

About 500 Afghan refugees are on the way to Albany in the coming days and months. We are not trying to help them all, there are other institutions and agencies working hard to help.

I expect some Afghan students will be coming to Bishop Maginn in January. I’m excited to meet them and help them. A school is a great place for them to come after what they’ve been through. The school has deep experience dealing successfully with traumatized and disoriented refugee children.

We will have an opportunity to help them in small and meaningful ways.

We want to stay focused and restrained. These new refugees will need help for a while, that’s important to remember. This is something of a long haul.  Burnout is a real danger for people who want to help needy people, I hope we keep that in mind.

We’ve helped tremendously with blankets and bedding, the sewing machines were a sudden and very successful offshoot. The refugee coordinator told me just a few minutes ago that the urgent need of Afghan families now is toys for their children. This may change.

We and Bishop Maginn are planning an Amazon Refugee Toy Wish List for Monday or Tuesday of next week. The list will include items the families have specifically requested. I think it’s a wise and appropriate place to go to help.

People are free to buy toys anywhere or anytime they wish before or after or during the Wish List and send them directly to Refugee Aid, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202. They’ll go into the free store and will also be distributed to the families that have asked for them. The families have children of all ages, from toddlers to high school age. Those of you with children and grandchildren will probably have their own ideas.

Once again, state and school officials asked that all items shipped to the school be new and packaged, the school can’t accept used materials.

Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving Basket Wish List was a stunning success, FedEx, UPS, and USPS trucks are pulling up at the school all day, each day with more packages than the next. These Thanksgiving baskets will be assembled in the week before Thanksgiving and distributed by local refugee aid groups. Families will be free to come to the school’s free store at any time to pick out what they want and need. We have enough basket items for the families that are here.

Gift Certificates: Turkeys and Food: Thanks to some generous contributions from individual people and some corporations, $25 gift cards will be distributed to each of the refugee families who have requested the Thanksgiving Baskets. They can buy a turkey if they wish or some other food if they prefer. We’ve learned in the past that Thanksgiving is an important holiday for new citizens, they identify with the idea of giving thanks.

Christmas. As of now, the toy wish list is our plan for Christmas. As the country works to restore the supply lines disrupted by the pandemic, we probably need to have a wish list and other supplies in place or ordered shortly. We are moving as quickly as we can.

The school and I have agreed that we will be open to emergency requests from families for things like sweaters and winter shoes and scarves and gloves. We’ve done this for each of the past three years, and I can get hold of these items quickly and inexpensively. I imagine we will be supporting individual families in this way for some months. I hope so.

Oh yes, we are buying about 20 bathrobes for the Mansion residents as winter approaches. Thanks for your support of that also. As always, if anyone is uncomfortable purchasing things online, you can send your donation to me via Paypal, [email protected] or Venmo, [email protected], or by mail or check, Jon Katz, Refuge/Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

This is an intensive period for us, probably the most challenging in our short but glorious history.

I am grateful for your consideration, trust, and support. You don’t need advice from me, but please be careful not to place your own financial security in jeopardy. Sue Silverstein and I have the same mottos. We do what we can for as long as we can. And we strive to commit small acts of great kindness. We can’t do everything, we can’t even do all that we would like. But we can and are and have done a lot, more than I ever imagined.

The absence of bureaucracy has made us free and mobile and smart. We’ve helped a great many people. There is much talk about the divisions in the country, but there is much unity out there too. The packages have come from every state in the union. My favorite letter was from Jeanna, a rabid Trump supporter from West Virginia; “I hate you, Jon Katz, I am a loyal Trump supporter and I hate what you say about him and I hate your blog and I don’t like dogs. But I admire the good you do, so I’m sending a check for $300. Do what you need to do with it.”

Jeanna had me speechless for once and flummoxed, but I did write her a thank you note: “Jeanna,” I wrote, “I don’t quite know what to say. Thank you and I think I love you, Jon.”

Bishop Maginn High School offers tax credits for people who want to make large donations to the refugee aid programs. Unfortunately, they are not in a position to purchase things. Donations are especially valuables for tuition payments.

If you have any questions about tax credits for your donations, please contact Sue Silverstein, [email protected].

From my end, I will work to keep perspective. Smaller and focused is good for us, although we’ve taken on a lot. We’ve learned a great deal about what we can do and can’t do and how to do it. I so appreciate your support, and so do all of the families and children you are helping.

I’m a huge fan of our wish lists, which we have pioneered in many ways. We have the freedom to help in whatever way and whatever degree we wish. There are no middlemen or administrators, the money spent goes right where it is supposed to go – in this case to the Bishop Maginn Free Store, which has already been cleaned out three times, thanks to our generosity.

The refugee families know about us and what we are doing. We welcome them to the real America.

So this is where we are. This is good and meaningful work, which is both healing and inspiring during a time of so much conflict and fear.

We don’t get mad. We do good. It’s exhausting, but mostly, uplifting.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me, [email protected], I’ll try to answer them. I’m personally thrilled to be working with Sue and Mike Tolan and the very dedicated refugee volunteers and the staff at Bishop Maginn.

I’m not sure about God, but if he exists, he is all over these people and the work they do. The Blessed Mother shines on Sue.