(Above The contents of each Thanksgiving Basket for the incoming Afghan Refugees and the refugee families needing food relief in the Bishop Maginn High School community.)
It was a wonderful thing to see today—an almost sacred day.
A classroom stuffed with volunteers – refugee and inner-city children working hard and joyously to press the big and bulging Thanksgiving Baskets that will go to at least 50 families in the Albany, N.Y. area. I saw a river of good flowing from pure hearts in and out of the school, hour after hour. This country has so much good; I don’t believe anyone who says otherwise.
All kinds of food from noodles to muffins to cranberry sauce to puddings and potatoes and sauces and stuffings. Inside of every large bag, there is also a $25 gift certificate so each family can purchase a turkey if they wish or something else if they prefer.
Most families are eager to celebrate Thanksgiving, as they see it as a way of giving thanks for being in America. They are grateful to be here for all of the troubles they face; it is so vastly superior to the horrors and dangers that so many of them have faced.
The basket stuffing began just after 11 a.m. and ended at 1:30 p.m. The food was donated by the Army Of Good, Bishop Maginn Alumnae, and several community groups in the Albany area. Starting this afternoon, the refugees can come to the Bishop Maginn Free Store and pick up their baskets, or teachers and social workers will deliver the baskets to them.
This will not make it a joyous holiday for many of these refugees, who came here with nothing but the clothes they are wearing. But it will help.
The families are happy to see the toys that you have donated, more than $1,000 worth of books from the Army Of Good are arriving on Monday and Tuesday.
We can’t solve many of the enormous problems the refugees face in this country. Still, we can make sure no student or refugee family goes hungry, has no mattresses to sleep on, soap or deodorant or toilet paper, blankets and sleeping bags and comforters, or does not have enough money to buy healthy food for three meals a day.
Sue is once again giving warm breakfast cereal and snacks to her students who show up early on empty stomachs to get something to eat.
As always, Sue Silverstein did a fantastic job organizing the basket stuffing.
She had all of the donated food boxes on large shelves in the rear of the classroom. She and several students opened the boxes and distributed the food to other students, who carried them to students sitting at tables all over the room with a bag opened in front of them.
It sounded like a riot, but it worked smoothly.
As they were handed the boxes, the bags began to fill out, which worked like clockwork. Sue has a fantastic relationship with her students, and they worship her and listen to her. They didn’t need any cajoling. Many of the students are refugees themselves, and they jumped at the chance to help other refugees.
The boxes were taken to the Free Refugee Store on the school’s second floor when they were done.
The Bishop Maginn Free Store will be open starting later this week so the new refugees can come and pick out the blankets, clothes, household appliances, bedding, toiletries, and other things they might need. The store has been cleaned out at least four times but will keep going as long as it can.
At least five or six non-profit refugee support groups have rushed to help, and I believe the refugees will get more support than any refugee family has received over the past four or five years. This time, the government is on their side; that makes a huge difference.
It was a beautiful and uplifting day for me. I helped stuff the bags, took photos for Sue, helped flatten the boxes, and had a powerful interview with Caleb, a Bishop Maginn freshman who learned last summer that he has “Diabetes 1” (technically called “Type One Diabetes.”) We talked about how it had affected his life – he was out of school for months – and what he hopes to do in the future to help other kids with the disease.
I’ll write about that later in the week.
Thanks so much for your support for the baskets; the food just kept pouring in, as did the toys and the blankets and comforters. Of course, I’ll stay in touch with Sue Silverstein and keep in touch with the refugee coordinators I’ve been talking to. If there’s something further we can do to help, I’ll write about it, and we’ll see what we can do. I’m also excited about getting to know the Bishop Maginn students once again after a prolonged Covid interruption.
Just FYI, it’s “Type 1 Diabetes,” not “Diabetes 1.” I am an editor of a medical journal.
Nana, I know nothing makes people happier online than correcting people, and it works out for me, as I make many mistakes. This is not one of them. I used the term because Caleb used it, and I don’t write for a Medical Journal so I can say whatever I wish and so can he. Since that’s the term he wishes – he means it as slang, I’m thinking, and to lighten it – that’s the one I will use when writing about him. And by the way, I am a diabetic and fully understand the terminology doctors and medical journals use for the disease.
this process is heart opening. so much LOVE…Sue S is an angel on site…and the army of good is full of angels online. uplifting report. thank you for your outreach. a blessed outpouring of caring.
Dear Jon, as one of those retired English teachers who, after years of correcting essays, might have developed a kind of reverse dyslexia, We have an ALMOST incontrollable awareness of catching grammatical and spelling errors. So, whenever we come across one of those pesky little problems, we see ourselves as giving you the gift of our vast knowledge so that you can present your best face to the public. I know you find it extremely irritating when someone offers this brilliant critique. (as do most people). I’m finding it helpful to ASK the writers if they want my helpfulness. And if anyone has read your blog, surely they know that they are poking a bear. Also, tone of voice is difficult to convey in the written word. So, are you hearing that crappy teacher that you had in elementary school who humiliated you while she pointed out your dyslexia gaff. You will be happy to know that I’m not going to give you my gift of pointing out your errors (this letter doesn’t count–you certainly didn’t ask me to explain English teachers ). Picture a sweet old lady softly explaining your error while she gently rubs your back when you get one of those “helpful” emails. Your readers love you (because you let us into your world daily) and find you to be so loving and immensely lovable–and you really don’t know schmatz about them who might think of themselves as supremely gifted or as a new English speaker who is priding himself on his newfound skill. So, what I have gone overboard in explaining is be gentle with your readers (even when you think they’re as basket of feathers). If you must respond, just say “thanks.”
Molly, thank so much for this gracious and generous message. I’m afraid I don’t want your help, but I do appreciate your good heart and civil words. English teachers never give up trying to educate or reform and educate me, and that is a beautiful thing if largely unsuccessful. When I started my blog, I promised to be open. I pledged that people who read my column would get the good Jon Katz and the bad Jon Katz, but they would always get the real one.
And I am definitely schizophrenic in that way, the good Katz can be very good, the bad one can be a nightmare. Sweet is not the term most often used to describe me.
The real one can be sweet, but also angry, defensive, and short-tempered. There is one of me and billions of you, which is difficult for most people to understand. You wouldn’t believe the messages I delete and don’t reply to, social media being overrun by trolls and assholes
And quite honestly, I don’t understand why I get messages from people telling me what they write will annoy me and then go right on to annoy me. I can’t imagine doing that, and it doesn’t compute for me.
The blog is what I wished it to be – authentic, alive, real, and unpolished. I don’t want to read like the New York Times and anyone else. All writers make mistakes. Mine are right out there for people to see.
You and I are different, which probably speaks well of you. I don’t feel the need to give thanks for unwanted things. it’s not how I wish to spend my time.
My problem is not with sweet old ladies, believe me, I hear from many of them and we have lovely and great communications – every single day. I don’t mind “helpful” emails but I don’t get too many. I will take your honest and helpful comments to heart and think about them. But I have between three and four million visits a year to my blog and English teachers are about the only ones who complain about my grammar.
I never equated grammar with good writing, and I don’t now.
My teachers didn’t like that.
I never was able to please my English teachers but managed to write 26 books. Go figure. I make no promises to you, Molly, I believe in a civil world full of people with compassion and empathy. I don’t wish to add to the poison, neither do I care to surrender to the storm. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t send me messages correcting my grammar or spelling. I have a good and expensive proofreading system that picks it up and helps me correct it. I don’t need another one.
Thanks much for the message. I will think about it for sure, and nice of you to send it. Best, Jon
Wow! Jon, that was an exceedingly polite and grammatically correct message! I just love you, my dear friend! I didn’t expect a response at all but I’m delighted that I received one and one so full of your special charm. Big hugs to you, Maria, each of the dogs, each of the sheep, the funny donkeys, and the cats and the chickens! I’m looking forward to reading your posts for today! (no response is required 😉 )
Wow back, Molly your messages call out for being loved and admired. You embody the very idea of grace and I am thankful so good a person would read my work at all. Stay with me you will make me a better human..