Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

31 March

Crackers For Kids 2.0: We Need Some Help. 1-2 Grade Students At Special Learning English For Immigrant Children In Need. Snacks Support, The Teachers Have Been Footing The Bill

by Jon Katz

I recently heard from the dedicated teachers in a school in Albany – The Albany  International Center that teaches English to refugee children seeking to avoid the violence of the public schools.

They are seeking three kinds of crackers for the younger refugee children at the school, grades 1 – 2. The crackers are for afternoon snacks; some kids are hungry and need an energy boost.. The teachers who have been these crackers need help – Graham Crackers, Animal Crackers, Gold Fish Crackers, all inexpensive and available just about wherever food is sold.

The prices go from $2.79 to $24 for bulk boxes.

(If you can help, the address to which to send the crackers is The Albany International Center, 50 Lark Street, Albany, New York, 12210, c/o Agija Van Derwiel. I’ll let you know about this project and the life and needs of one remarkable student the teachers have singled out for help. I’m meeting him next week; his primary teacher says he is an “amazing” student working day and night, and he hopes to become a doctor.)

If you need the school’s Amazon phone number, it’s 518 475 6000. Please do not send me crackers or cash to buy these items; crackers should go directly to the school.)

These kids have had rough lives, driven from their homes and living in refugee camps in America to build and rebuild new lives. Several hundred of them are in a remarkable school founded to help them learn English so they can continue their educations. They are hard workers, but the public schools are not well-equipped to help them, and many are afraid of the violence in those schools – many have experienced some.

The teachers spend their meager salaries on afternoon snacks for the kids, who are often hungry.  Their parents are the people you see cleaning hotel rooms and hospital floors and stocking shelves at Walmart. They work hard, often in two or three jobs.

I’m going to the school this coming week to take a photo or two and figure out what they need. It’s Graham, Animal, and Goldfish crackers;  nothing expensive. We could send them what they need, but I can’t get to the school for a week or so. I hope to put up a Wish List for the teachers shortly, but I’d love to get them some crackers. So this is something of a test.

 

The teachers at AIC are asking for help. The kids need these snacks, but the teachers are not paid well enough to keep buying them. They are often hungry and tired in the afternoon.

The center accepts and helps students from K to 12; they have a one-year program funded by the Albany Public School System.

The teachers are buying the three crackers above –Gold Fish, Graham, and Animal Crackers as afternoon snacks and energy boosts. I would appreciate any help you can give these children. I just bought bulk boxes of each. Until the wish list, I’d ask people who wish to purchase the crackers—available on Amazon or any grocery store—to mail them to Albany International Center, a one-year program to teach newcomers to America English so they can return to their former schools. Many of these kids have struggled with violence or crowded classrooms. I’ll get some photos of the school.

Their parents work hard in low-paying jobs and have little or no money to spare. You might remember EhK’Pru, who needed our help and is not in college on a scholarship. She was in a similar program when we met her. “We could use the help,” one teacher told me, and they are asking for very little.

If you can help, the address to send the crackers is The Albany International Center, 50 Lark Street, Albany, New York, 12210, c/o Agija Van Derwiel. I’ll let you know about this project and the life and needs of one remarkable student the teachers have singled out for help. I’m meeting him next week; his primary teacher says he is a “fantastic” student working day and night to become a doctor.

If you need the school’s Amazon phone number, it’s 518 475 6000. Please do not send me crackers or cash to buy these items; crackers should go directly to the school.

 

31 March

Cambridge Food Bank Requests: Babies, 2.0: Asking Again For Deapers And Urgently, For Wipes. And Thank You. Not An Option, A Necessity.

by Jon Katz

 

Today, it’s Babies 2.10. We got some diapers, but we need more. Thanks for caring. Sarah is asking for help getting Diapers 6 and 3. The urgent item will also be wet wipes for babies. Thanks so much for your support. The diapers fly right out of the pantry when there is a service. They are not an option but a necessity.

 

 

Sarah’s choices to help babies and moms:

Huggies Size 6 Diapers, Little Movers, Baby Diapers,  Size 6, 16 Count, $9.94.

Baby Diapers Size 3, (16-28 pounds, 26 ct, Huggies Little Snugglers, $9.94.

Urgent Item (and timely):

Huggies: Clean Unscented Baby Diaper Wipes, 11 Flip-Top Packs (704 Wipes Total), Packing May Vary, $16.97.

 

 

 

The  Amazon Cambridge Pantry Urgent Wish List is accessible anytime, day or night.

Click on the links here or use the green button at the bottom of every blog post. Every item on the wish list is urgent and updated several times daily.  Some people are adopting favored items and sending them when they can. Thanks for the messages; the pantry volunteers greatly appreciate them, and many are poring through them

 

31 March

Rescuing Love And Empathy: A Gift For Danny, Who Has ADD, And Is Too Anxious To Be In A School With Other Children. The Journey Of Souls

by Jon Katz

Today, I did a small thing of hopefully great kindness.

I took three unique gifts and toys to a young boy with ADD who had to leave public school because he was terrified to go there. A family member who loves him dearly is home-schooling him.  She could use some help.  I bought him two puzzles, an electronic fidget toy, a shape-shifting box, and two wooden blocks puzzle brain tears, a ” jigsaw intelligence toy.”

I’ll call the boy Daniel, not his real name; he is one of 7 million aged 3-7 years with the emotional disorder called ADD. Like many thousands of other home-schooled children (3.1 million), most schools were overwhelming for him. His family chose to home-school him.

Almost every one of these children could use any one of the toys I am giving Daniel. They are inexpensive and designed to ease anxiety, provide stimulating activity, and amuse children who are often isolated. I got them from Amazon.

I am learning that it is a great gift to help those in need get food, to help farmer workers with sciatica, and to help ADD Children with toys to play with and be comforted by.

This is an easy one.

St. John Of The Cross wrote that every quality or virtue the Christian spirit produces in the souls of men and women has three distinguishing qualities  – Tranquility, gentleness, and Strength. I read that often. I’m working on them all, and I’m not a Christian.

 

 

That faith, always of interest to me, seems to have evolved—three current characteristics of some Christians are greed, power, and cruelty. That’s an oversimplification, but reading Evelyn Underhill’s excellent writing about Christianity, I was struck by her description of St. Catherine of Siena, who said to sinners who came to her, “Have no fear; I will take the burden of your sins.” That spirit of selflessness is struggling in modern times, in Christianity and politics.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who want to help those in need and those who don’t. We all have choices to make.

The Divine passion for saving love possessed St. Catherine, so she took her place in the grand army of rescuing souls and or helping those in distress.

When Christianity came into being, I was much inspired by Christ’s beliefs and disciplines. Underhill writes that Jesus only had one purpose in life—to advocate for divinity and to urge people in troubled work to care for those who needed help. In many ways, our world—often cruel and greedy—resembles that one. Love and empathy need some help. It feels as if our society has hardened and embraced anger and cruelty.

I am embracing Underhill’s idea that a moral person’s responsibility – especially one of faith –  is to rescue love and souls.

I hope I’ve done some of that with Danny and the Cambridge Food Pantry and by getting crackers for hungry children in Albany.

I’m told autistic children like Danny love those puzzles and shapeshifters. There are kids like Danny everywhere, just around the corner.

 

 

 

 

30 March

Okay, I ‘m Hooked: I Need A Name For This Finch, I See Him Every Day

by Jon Katz

I sometimes think this is the year of animals for me at Bedlam Farm, but that’s silly. Every year up here has been a year of the animals. The newcomers are Zip and the birds (new to me). As many bird lovers predicted, I would get hooked if I started taking photos of birds. They are getting to know me, and I am getting to know them.

This Finch comes to see me almost every morning; he is no longer afraid of me. They are a lot smarter than I thought. So it’s time to name him; I’m thinking of “Homer,” but I’m open to suggestions.

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