Sue is putting out a call for peanut butter, jelly, and cup noodles. I can’t say I’m surprised.

The first day I met Sue Silverstein at Bishop Maginn High School, she took me on a guided tour of the school and her classroom.

She startled me by opening a closet door and revealing rows of all kinds of healthy, packaged snacks for the refugee children.

She explained that many of them came to school hungry.

Sometimes they had to walk to school and were cold; sometimes, their parents were so scrapped they could only afford two meals; sometimes, the kids were hungry.  Albany winters wee and tough; she said many children still had sandals on their feet. (We bought them winter shoes, one of the first deeds of the newly formed Army Of Good.)

They knew they could eat a healthy breakfast in her classroom before the other students came in, with privacy. This was my first clue that I had encountered a modern future saint.

Many of these kids, I saw, would show up to school early, and Sue would give them a healthy snack, heated cup noodles, protein bars, and peanut and jelly crackers.

I learned later that other teachers often did the same. Nobody knew about this, not the other students or anyone in the school. Sue isn’t much for self-promotion.

In that first wave of refugees out of the Myanmar genocide, those snacks meant a great deal to the children, they had suffered so much, and most came right out of refugee camps where they had lived for years.

Her class immediately became their safe place, watching over and guiding them through their trauma. Every one of them is going to college this year or next. As one of her graduating refugee students told her, “I’ll miss you, Missy; you fix broken things.”

I was upset to learn that Sue paid for all these snacks herself. Sue never toots her own horn and keeps most of her good deeds to herself. She is at Bishop Gibbins School in Schenectady, a wealthier, if not rich, school. Poor kids are still coming to school early to get a sneak from Mrs. Silverstein.

I asked her if she was paying for these snacks again out of her pocket.

I know what Sue earns, and I told her that was too much for her to take on. For once, she didn’t argue.

I asked her if it would be okay if I put out an appeal to her many admirers and supporters and asked them to send these things to her at Bishop Gibbons High School: Sue Silverstein, Bishop Gibbons High School, 2600 Albany Street, Schenectady, New York, 12304.

She didn’t say no, which is her yes.

She does so much for others; here is a chance to do something inexpensive but essential. I found the noodles on Amazon here.

 

Let’s fill her snack closet. Any brand of peanut butter, noodles, or jelly will do. The one above is on Amazon. I sent some to her at her school: Sue Silverstein, 2600 Albany Street, Schenectady, New York, 12304.

Please send her some peanut butter, jelly, and cup noodles if you can.

You couldn’t give her a better gift or one that will be put to better use. And it won’t cost much at all.