Almost every day of the week, I wake up, go to the RISSE website and donate a dollar. It is a small thing for me, but it is a big thing.

It lifts my heart, keeps me grounded, reminds me what my values are, why I love liberty and the American Dream, gives me a chance to help refugee children who have been through enough, as well as their families. These people need to see the true heart and soul of America, my country.

A lot of you – the Army Of Good, it seems, is always ready – have been sending $1 dollar donations, and the money is mounting up, you have sent over $1,000 so far. You can contribute $ 1 directly to RISSE, it is simple, they take Paypal and major credit cards.

I see this dollar thing as a gift to me, the gift of feeling good about my country again.

The point is to let the people at RISSE, the refugee and immigrant support center of the Emmaus Methodist Church, know they the children and families they work with are loved, welcome and supported. Their office building was burned down last year by arsonists, all of the tires on their vans were slashed.

They work so hard and do so much, they are nearly overwhelmed.

This anger and mistrust towards the most vulnerable people in the world is not the real America, and  your single dollars tell them so. A $1 donation if meant to be affordable, but it buys a lot of good will and sends a powerful and inspiration message. During this difficult time, it is imperative that the RISSE children and their families see the truth about us.

I am the grandchild of refugees and immigrants, my heart is with these people who have come here to live in safety and prosperity in America, they work hard and are no threat to us, just look at their faces. I have come to know many of them well, and to know them is to love them.

A $1 donation tells them this is still possible, despite the hearts of stone who would shut them out and demonize them. They are part of the American soul, one of our most cherished and stories parts.

Many of you have contributed to the refugee children already – we have supported their soccer  team, sent them on retreats, to amusement parks, brought them to nature, bought them art and creativity kits, kitchen utensils, lamps, pillows, blankets, strollers, soap and towels,  given them scholarships to art programs, shown them the animal and farming worlds.

This work is just beginning, but we can  help in small ways as well. The RISSE dollar campaign is one of them.

The American Revolution was conceived and fought almost entirely by refugees and immigrants.

We are a generous people, who care for others, not just ourselves.

I have heard the stories of these children and their families, they are heart-wrenching and ongoing. Many of their family members – brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents – have been left behind, shut out of America, the land that offered them so much safety and hope.

Some of the children have suffered horrific traumas and loss, some of their parents have spent years in refugee camps and seen their relatives slaughtered and killed in the most brutal of ways.

A $1 donation costs us little, it is a great gift for this group, which does so much wonderful work on behalf of new refugees and immigrants to America – after school programs, classes in English, bookkeeping, paperwork, finance and job-hunting.

The good people at RISSE work unbelievably hard for shockingly little money. It is a gift to me to send them this message as often as I can with a message of support. For pennies, it helps me endure these angry times, and broken spirits.

I love fund-raising in this way – not just the few any more but the many, if each of us gives a little, we can do a lot. And we know where every penny goes.

Their building has been rebuilt. But too often, these new Americans, our brothers and sisters,  confront ignorant and angry people who insult them, tell them to go back where they came from, think they are here to harm them or steal their work.

That is not us, I tell them. That is not who we are.

A dollar donation sends a different message. America is a land of refugees and immigrants, the torch is still lit in our hearts, minds and souls. We welcome them to our country. A $1 says so.

You can donate your dollar (more if you wish) here. I do it almost every day. It just feels good.