Ali needs to start getting some supplies for the upcoming soccer season. He needed several pairs of new cleats for the team and also an air pump. I met him and wrote a check for $160.

Soon, we will have to pay to rent indoor soccer training facilities for the new season. I am re-building the refugee/soccer team fund, the last few weeks have been intense.

Every team in their league – most of them are suburban and affluent teams – rents space in indoor arenas so they can train in the winter, and we know of a good one. Last year, that cost around $600 plus pizza and snacks. The team is also getting new uniforms – they are the Bedlam Farm Warriors now, independent both from  RISSE and from Bedlam Farm.

That is mostly paid for, I owe only $500.

I am honored to be the sponsor, but I don’t need or wish the team to carry my name, I don’t own the team or run the team, I just support it. For the past few years, Ali paid for everything out of his own pocket, it nearly ruined him.

Ali makes all of the decisions regarding the team – players, matches, training, uniforms.

Someone once called me the team’s ATM, and it was meant as a joke, but there is truth to it. I raise the funds for this  team, I have no authority to run it and have no interest in running it. I know nothing about soccer, for one thing.

Ali is a born leader and has taught the players enormous values and loyalty. All of them are honor students, and I admire the way they care for and support one another. He has done a wonderful job caring for them and instilling the best  values.

Ali and I are close, we are brothers in many ways, we love and support each other and talk openly and honestly (and often), aware of the irony of a Providence-born Jew and an American Muslim from Sudan working so closely and easily together to support the refugees and immigrants who need help so badly now.

This is my time to be a patriot, and fight for the soul of my country, for our better angels.

The soccer team players – all refugees –  are very lucky to have Ali as they navigate this new country with its alien and increasingly hostile environment. I love our “office” meetings, we both know I could simply transfer money online, but we cherish these meetings.

Maria came with me (she took the photo) yesterday – Ali loves her –  and we are both going to have dinner at Ali’s home on Sunday night, we are going to meet his mother and family and also dine with Sakler Moo and his mother. We are looking forward to it.

Ali says in his culture, they see their mothers every single day of their lives.

When he was in high school, he said, one of his classmates called their own mother a “bitch” – Ali couldn’t even say the word, he said it was the “B” word. Ali was horrified and slugged him for this disrespect.

We talked a long time about the culture Sakler Moo comes from and whether or not he will be able to keep his connection to this culture in his new school, a prestigious and rigorous private academy with strict rules about clothes, appearance, studies and social behavior.

I said Ali should expect Sakler to change and I said I imagine Sakler will have his hands full navigating these two worlds. I hope the school leaves him alone and supports  him in this effort.

I am committed to helping Sakler Moo get through this academy if that is what he and Ali and his family wishes. So far, I’ve paid the tuition we needed for this year – $6,000, and have already raised $3,500 for 2019. I am paying Sakler’s family share – $2,000.

A generous member of the Army Of Good has pledged the family share $2,000 for each of the next three years. I told her she can always change her mind, but knowing her, she won’t, and if she doesn’t, then I already have just about have just about enough money now for 2019. I’m not certain, but I think my obligation next year will be $5,000.

We had to pay a one-time enrollment fee of  $1,000 this year.

I would welcome some support for the soccer team as it enters it’s new year as the Albany Warriors. If you are so inclined, you can send a contribution to me, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].

New federal banking regulations require that checks be made out to me as the “payable to” person, so please make the checks out to me and mark what the check is for on the bottom: “Soccer  Team,” “Refugees” or “Mansion residents.”

The payments are audited monthly by a bookkeeper and a New York City accounting firm.

I have separate accounts now for these groups, and every penny goes where it is supposed to go. If you are supporting me or my blog, you can just say “blog.” And thanks, thanks, thanks. This work has been the most rewarding chapter of my life, and I am committed to doing it well.

Audio: Reflections on our “office” and the Soul Of America