A new RISSE wish List Is Up On Amazon after a brief Easter vacation for the staff. The list still focuses on the RISSE after school for refugee children, but you may notice a shift in the coming weeks. The school is getting a lot of the things they most urgently needed, thanks to you.

Now, the list will be gin to focus on some of the things the adult refugees and immigrants – the families of these children – need.

On the list today, for example, you’ll see a wall clock and some shaving cream. These are for the adults trying to get the tools and personal affects they need in their new apartments.

Many of these families – especially the refugees – came here directly from U.N. refugee camps, where some had been for up to 20 years.

They have virtually nothing but the clothes on their back. It is wonderful that we have provided so many tools for the children, and they still have great needs. But the families have enormous needs as well, especially the many single mothers I meet whose husbands and families have been left behind and denied admission to the United States.

Many of these women work in minimum wage cleaning jobs, the only jobs they can get until they learn English and the other things they need to learn about living in America. I strongly support the idea of using the wish list to help them, their needs will also be posted on the list.

I welcomed back the list this morning by buying some plastic bins to store food. Thanks for caring. This Wish List is a life preserver.