Ali and I met in our office in Schaghticoke, N.Y., this morning. We made plans for the fall. We are looking to help five members of the soccer team, the Albany Warriors, who are about to start high school in America.

Several years ago, Ali started a back to school fund for the refugee soccer team, now called the Albany Warriors. He and a few of his friends raised money to buy some of the team members shoes and needed clothes for school in September.

These kids come from poor families, many live with single parents who work in minimum wage jobs at Wal-Mart or area grocery stores or cleaning hotel rooms. They just have no extra money for clothes. And clothes matter, they are essential to acclimating in American school and with very clothes-conscious American kids who often ridicule the refugee children for the old and worn clothes they wear, many from Church collections.

Ali knows, he went to high school in Albany and remembers. Come and listen.

This year, five members of the soccer team are entering high school in September. They need shoes, two or three shirts and some pants. These are not frills or luxuries, Ali is quite price conscious, but he knows the importance of having new and current clothes.

So this year, I’ve volunteered for the Army Of Good to take over the Soccer Team Back to School Fund, Ali estimates that six or seven hundred dollars will buy these kids what they need and help shape their entrance into high school, a powerful landmark for these refugee children, all of whom are honor students.

We would be grateful for any help you might provide for this fund. If you can or wish, you can send a contribution to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz. P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark your contributions Soccer Team Back To School Fund, and thank you.

School starts in a couple of weeks.