Great news from Sue Silverstein’s art program at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady, New York: Sue is taking the donations she is receiving – money and healthy food – and placing all of it in a new Student Emergency Assistance Program, so when food supplies run low, they can quickly re-stock.

The students in her art class are setting up a food snacks pantry so that the students who need something good and healthy can easily see what they can have. Sue told her students that if her siblings or families are hungry, they can bring snacks and protein foods home. The students were thrilled.

The single mothers who are raising children (their husbands were lost in violence in their countries) are overwhelmed by grocery prices; their children are thrilled to be able to take some of these foods home to ease the burden. The needs vary. Government assistance for refugee families has been mostly illuminated; many refugees work two or three jobs and are often not home to cook.

Single-parent families are a hit hard; there is often insufficient money for three meals daily. The children are often hungry for a warm and healthy breakfast. There is concern about anemia.

(Anemia is a health problem of insufficient healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues. Hemoglobin is a protein found in red cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all other organs in the body. Having anemia can cause tiredness, weakness, and shortness of breath—the food arriving at the school emphasizes vitamins and protein, which can block or cure anemia. Anemia can be short-term or long-term. It can range from mild to severe. Anemia can be a warning sign of serious illness. Refugee children, who have often spent years in flight or in refugee camps or lived under siege, are often prone to anemia. Sue sees it in her classes, mainly in fatigue and exhaustion.)

Treatments for anemia might involve taking supplements or having medical procedures. Eating a healthy diet might prevent some forms of anemia.

“It’s a miracle for these students,” said Sue, “we now have such a healthy selection of vitamin and protein-filled foods. We are also setting up the free store with warm clothing and other items distributed from last year’s department store style. The students are very much into it.”

The Students Emergency Assistant Fund will become a fixed part of the school and Sue’s classes. People can contribute money and buy food for the program all year: Sue Silverstein, Food Assistance, Bishop Gibbons High School,  2600 Albany Street, Schenectady, New York, 12304. All donations will be used for students and their siblings.

We are looking for high-protein foods and goods with vitamin support. Any and all donations will be put to good and immediate use.

One AOG member in California sent a check for $2,000; another sent a check for $500. The food box donations are still pouring in. The photos today are donations that came in today. We’ve started something extraordinary.

The response was so generous and thoughtful that students can now choose the food they want and take some home for their brothers and sisters. The need is great.

The Army of Good did all this, and I bow my head to you.

“I am stunned,” said Sue, “the kids are seeing firsthand the kindness of strangers in America. Thanks to every one of you.”