I have exciting news. I have a wonderful small project for the Army of Good—a small act of great kindness.
I’m out to help Rescue Love, thanks to Maria, the farm, the animals, the birds, and the good people who need help.
I’m pretty ambitious, but I’m taking it one person at a time. I’m excited about the Cracker For Kids program.
I heard from the dedicated teachers in a school in Albany that teaches English to refugee children seeking to avoid the violence of the public schools.
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.
(We met Eh K’Pru in a program like this. She’s a sophomore in college now. Kathy Soso, her teacher, teaches at the Alban International Center.)
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.
Bird Watch
Zip cleaning up.
Bud in the Sun
