Friends, I wanted to give some notice for our annual autumn pre-winter effort to gather items like sweaters, coats, hats, boots, scarves, and personal care items like soap and hygienic things like soap and toothpaste for low-income families and their children in the Bishop Maginn community and the Bishop Gibbons community.

We do this Amazon Wish List in conjunction with Sue Silverstein, my blog, and the Army Of Good. Sue knows the families in need better than anyone, and she is sensitive to the cost of things, especially now. She knows better than anyone they need that we can afford to help with.

This year, and at the end of next week, we’ve decided to help these families out – refugee and inner-city – and anyone in need by launching an Amazon Winter Family Wish List. This list will serve anyone who needs assistance.

We know from experience that these families, battered and challenged by the pandemic, job loss, rising prices, and drastic declines in government support, will need help in the coming weeks and months, especially when it gets cold. Sue says we need to be ready.

Bishop Maginn and Bishop Gibbons are two different schools. But there are plenty of people in need.

There are always poor people, people who are well off, and those who are wealthy. And a large number of refugee students from Bishop Maginn are now in the Bishop Gibbons community. We know them well.

I know many of these families, have met with them and spoken with them,  and I know they could use a hand.

We can help a little.

Sue has been doing this all her life, and I am proud to stand with her. I’ve learned a little help can go a long way. She has taught me a great deal about how to help people.

Many refugee children are already sleeping on mats on living room floors to save energy and heating oil bills. They will need blankets. Some need some winter clothes. Some need toothpaste and deodorant.

We know that too many kids who show up for school in the winter with sandals or flip-flops and that some only have one or two meals at home. Sue likes to have some healthy snacks around and canned hot soup. No student ever stays hungry if she is around.

Some will need socks, coats, and boots. We understand that we can’t meet all the needs of everyone, and we won’t try. Our motto is small acts of great kindness. We have no miracles up our sleep, but we can help, and we have.

Sue’s Wish Lists are always restrained. She does a lot of research to find the cheapest prices.

We aren’t asking for any direct cash-fund-raising. People can buy what they choose and can afford; there are no middlemen to pay or bureaucrats to take their cut.

The Army Of Good’s innovative way of fund-raising – Wish Lists mainly – has changed non-profit work, ours, and others. The power goes to you, not to us. And the money goes straight to where it belongs. The Wish Lists don’t need much explaining; they speak for themselves.

Sue will do a lot of surveying this week to find precisely what people need and will structure the wish list accordingly. My job is to use the blog and the Army of Good to support it.

I will do my part, and I hope you all can help again this year, as you always have. If you can’t, there is no guilt or shame. I’ll keep everybody posted. I believe in these annual pre-winter support Wish Lists. In many ways, they are the most important ones that we do.