3 January

A Thank You From RISSE For The Clothes: (Kids Need Some Help)

by Jon Katz
Clothes Drive

The people at RISSE, the refugee and immigrant support center in Albany, N.Y. were somewhat stunned at the speed, volume and quality of the clothes sent to them before Christmas by the Army Of Good. I think they are still trying to figure out who we are, and I don’t blame them, I can hardly understand it myself sometimes.

Cheryl Lasher, the new and impressive Development Director at RISSE, wrote me today to make sure to thank all of you for the very urgently needed clothes you sent the refugees in upstate New York. As I have written, many of the refugees suffered awful persecution before they came here, and are now facing persecution again, only by some of our people and some of our government.

Cheryl wrote to say she is still catching up on thank you notes for all the wonderful winter clothes. “I am amazed by the geographical diversity of your audience,” she wrote. “Today alone, I am responding to donations from Auburn, WW., Atlanta, Ga, Arlington, Va., Hampton, Va., Kempton, PA., and Fort Myers, Fl. How heartwarming.” Wait until she sees all of it, the Army Of Good is in every state of the union and a number of countries overseas.

We are everywhere, and are very good people, I think, they constantly give me hope for the future.

Cheryl added an FYI:” We are still full up with clothes from our Christmas donations but am letting people know we can always use kids underwear, socks, and gloves/mittens. I also went to the soccer tournament last week and you would have been very proud of the quality of play and behavior of the kids.”

I am very proud of them, they are very good people themselves.

In recent weeks, as I get to know the men and women of RISSE as well as the boys and girls, I am coming to see the great need facing many refugee families – the federal aid that once supported them through their difficult transition is vanishing so that corporations can get enormous tax breaks.

Some literally go hungry and want for proper clothes to get through our winters. There is just no money to properly equip their children, and in local schools, if you don’t have snow pants and mittens, you don’t get to go outside or on many  trips.

The Christmas donations were wonderful, but the need, especially for children, is continuous and urgent. Sunday, I am beginning a monthly food support program, we will visit one family at the begging of the month and deliver a months’ worth of groceries. They could use the food.

I’ll share this with you.

This is almost literally a drop in the bucket, but one step at a time, one small act of great kindness at a time. We have to start somewhere.

I am urging RISSE to put up an Amazon gift page listing the kid’s most urgent needs. I hope they do it. You can contact Cheryl Lasher at anytime, you can write her at 715 Morris Street, Albany, N.Y., or contact her at [email protected].

Thanks so much for caring and helping, the Army of Good is…well, great.

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