I’m happy to report that we raised all the money we need for the Break Room, at least for now, I think the total donated will be just short of $800, enough to pay for the table and chairs and lamp that I bought and also for the electrical improvements – one electric baseboard, a small refrigerator, one or two new outlets, a carpet and a coffee machine.

Thank you.

The idea of the Break Room struck a deep nerve, people were quick to respond to my call for help and also send some messages and comments of a new and different kind.

These made me realize I need to once again be clear about how the Army Of Good works, and how I interact with the Mansion or any other institution we try to help. I also see that people who comment often haven’t read the post they are commenting on.

The response was instant and at times, overwhelming.

One reader wrote to offer me $200, but only if I agree to install several additional outlets that she felt would be needed.

A man posted a message on my blog insisting that the baseboard and outlet would cost at least $2,000, plus permit and other fees. His message suggested that I was either naive or stupid. (I have two estimates from electricians, the highest was $500 and no permit fees are required for an outlet in newly wired rooms.)

I was urged by several people to start a GoFundMe campaign for the money and also to contact local legislators and state officials and advocacy groups. Someone assured me I would need to buy an air conditioner (Not so, the room is windowless and we can use the cooling portable sticks that work so well int the resident’s rooms, plus a fan).

I was told we should install an electric fireplace and also advised to put in radiant heating. Each of these things would cost thousands of dollars and are neither possible or advisable – nor wanted –  in that room.

I realize that many people – a growing number – post comments without reading the blog posts. I think that’s a major reason for these otherworldly miscommunications.

Some said portable heaters hard-wired into the walls would work, something I have said repeatedly is against state regulations. No portable heaters of any kind.

These suggestions startled me, but they don’t anger me mostly. (I didn’t care for the one setting conditions on the donation).

They make me realize I just have to be clear. And that I have to be disciplined and fight for the simplicity and focus that has marked the work of the Army Of Good when so many other ventures like this fail. We have never failed – not once.

There were other very complex ideas and proposals – even demands –  that reminded me I need to write about this.

So I will.  Say what you want about me, I am nothing if not transparent.

My goals are always the same: small and simple. Small acts of great kindness, not big ones.

First, I should say that I don’t work for the Mansion, and they don’t work for me.

I am not in charge of or privy to their internal decisions, either regarding the residents or any changes or improvements or construction like the Break Room.

The Mansion director asked me to help, and I’m helping. It’s a great cause, and I promise you I will get it done. But it’s not my project and I’m not in charge of how they ultimately decide to do it. When they need help, they ask me.

I don’t make decisions for them, nor do I ever tell them what to do or pressure them. I simply support the needs they have and the decisions they make. And I do not accept donations that are conditional beyond where people say they wish their donations to go: to the Mansion, for refugees, for this project or that.

I certainly would not demand that the Mansion add outlets they don’t want in exchange for money from us. They would sour our relationship quickly. I declined the donation.

I have never turned to crowdsourcing for any Army Of Good project, and hopefully never will.

The reason is I never ask for so much money we need to go beyond ourselves to raise it.

If we can’t raise it ourselves, I don’t do it, I don’t need to give seven percent of the money we raise to a crowdsourcing company when we can raise the money ourselves.

And I believe strongly in keeping our expenditures small, I get a lot of small donations, but not a lot of money. I use it carefully and always explain where it has gone, in words or pictures. It is audited monthly by a bookkeeper and also by a New York City CPA.

That’s fine, we are doing very well this way, I have no desire to complicate it, change it, raise more money than I need, expand it, or invite state and local officials to get involved.

So far, we always have succeeded, and that’s a record I am proud of. My credo is simple and small – like us. The enemy is the American impulse to do more, the Internet tendency to confusion and misinformation, and the wish so many people have to argue, expand and make everything simple complicated.

I don’t need to fight with the Mansion to get a Break Room, it is their idea, and something they very much want to do.

It is not really possible or feasible for people thousands of miles away to guess what the project might need, or tell me what it might cost when I make it a point to know.

Thanks to your support, we will have a functioning and desperately needed Break Room up shortly. We are almost there. It will be done simply and inexpensively I’m buying used and restored furniture and chairs.

But the Mansion operates under close and strict supervision from state authorities. They need to move carefully and slowly – and legally.

It might yet cost a few hundred more dollars, but no more than that.

If you wish to contribute to this work or other works in progress,   you can do so via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Break Room Project, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

We have done a thousand good deeds in small and manageable ways. That is why we have been so successful, that’s the path I’ll stay on. Thanks as always for your support.

I don’t mean this to be cranky, I just mean to be honest and clear.