There are 16 items on the new RISSE (refugee and immigrant support center in Albany, N.Y.) Amazon Wish List, down from 36 a week ago, and thank you. We are chipping away, one day at a time.

I see the Wish List this way. This morning, I bought a package of Rainbow Dance Ribbon streamers for young kids, the refugee and immigrant children at the RISSE after school who wish to dance in America. It cost my $13.79.

It was a wonderful way to begin my week and my day, it makes me feel good, and it makes me feel like a true patriot, something I have not always had a chance to do in my life.

This is a way to stand up for America in my mind, a nation of immigrants and refugees, a melting pot that is the envy and inspiration of so much of the world.

The small and angry and disconnected fear and hate refugees and immigrants, they feel they are taking away something that is theirs. But we are the refugees and immigrants, their lives are ours, their stories are ours. They are not the other, they are us.

I would encourage you to take a look at the shrinking RISSE Amazon Wish List and see if there is one thing you might wish to buy for these people in great need. By definition, a refugee is a person who has suffered enough. I have heard many of their horrible and wrenching stories.

I believe they have come to the right place, we are a beacon of light in this world, and every time you purchase an item on the RISSE list, I believe you standing up for our country, and the values we share so deeply.

The items left range from $12 to $140, they are aimed at the refugee children and their families.

Thanks for listening. Go see the list here.

If Amazon asks for security reasons, the RISSE address is RISSE, 715 Morris Street, Albany, N.Y., 12208. 518 621-1041.