Search Results for: refugees

The first wave of Afghan refugees has hit this area. They need a lot of help. We can’t give them all that they need, but we can help with the smaller things they need urgently.

In the past five years, refugee aid, staff, and services were cut to the bone. The now understaffed refugee agencies still functioning are struggling to respond to the influx of refugees. We’ve agreed to try and help meet this very urgent need of newcomers; none of them are used to our winter environment.

These people are mostly on their own, with a fraction of financial support given to new refugees in American for decades.

Next week, we’ll be posting an Amazon Bishop Maginn  Thanksgiving Baskets Wish List for all the refugee families, including those just arriving from Afghanistan.

In the meantime, anyone who wishes to help in this emergency is asked to send these items directly to Bishop Maginn High School, a collection and distribution center for the new arrivals.

The urgent list: Bathroom rugs, towels (can’t get enough), sheets, blankets, quilts, and comforters, kids gloves. This is not a wish list; donors are asked to purchase and ship these items – they must be new and packaged – to the Afghan Emergency Fund,  C/O Sue Silverstein, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202.

You can purchase these items anywhere you like – Wal-Mart, Amazon, local stories – but they must be new. You can ship them directly to the school or ask the sellers to send them there. We don’t have specific sizes. I’d go for Queens size bed and beddings, otherwise medium and large sizes in general.

This is short-term support. Volunteers are finding housing, but the refugees literally have nothing but the clothes they are wearing. (They can also use woman’s shoes size 9, and men’s shoes size 10, I was just told.)

The refugees have never been exposed to cold weather before, and they are very cold.

If any of you are uncomfortable purchasing online or going to big stories, you can donate to me, Jon Katz, P.O.Box 205, and I’ll be happy to make the purchases and send them to the high school. You can also donate to Paypal, [email protected] or Venmo, [email protected].

Thanks so much. Please look for our Thanksgiving Basket Wish List next Wednesday or Thursday.

The Afghan refugees have arrived, and they are in desperate need of help, even more than expected.

According to refugee aid workers, they need many things, among them are six things they need urgently. I think we can help. We will also go ahead with our Bishop Maginn Thanksgiving Basket Wish List next week.

The school has asked if anyone can send these items to the school as soon as possible.: Towels, Bedding, Blankets, Comforters, Quilts, Women’s Winter Coat Medium or Large, Men’s Winter Coat, Large.

If you can, send these items to Afghan Refugee Support, c/o Sue Silverstein, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Street, Albany, N.Y., 12202.

These items are all on Amazon and can be shipped directly to the school at the above address. Note: This is not an Amazon Wish List. There wasn’t enough warning to set one up. I wanted to get these people as much help as possible ASAP.  We’re hard at work on the Wish List.

Amazon sells all of the items mentioned on Amazon.com and you can ship them directly to the school: we are trying to eliminate middlemen and get them here quickly. We hope to get a Thanksgiving Basket to wish list up next week, hopefully, Wednesday.

I bought sheets for a Queen bed and ordinary bathroom towels.

Refugee coordinators are wisely splitting up the need among different groups and organizations. They are asking various non-profit organizations for the other items – shoes, children’s clothes. They asked for our help, and I volunteered for the above items.

It’s already getting cold here, and the refugees from Afghanistan are not used to it or prepared for it. They are freezing and somewhat in shock.  Americans all over the country are rushing to help these battered, dislocated people. I’m proud to be one of them.

The items must be new and packaged for health and other reasons. If you want to help, the address is Afghan Refugee Support, c/o Sue Silverstein, Bishop Maginn High School,  75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202. The suffering is real and significant. When the students arrive at the school, we will find other ways to help them.

Our Thanksgiving Basket Wish List, supporting all refugees in the Bishop Maginn community, will be going up next week. This is not a wish list but a direct plea for help. Please remember, we can’t accept old or used items.

Thanks to Mansion aide and friend Tania Woodward, my Mansion work has continued even though I’ve been laid up. I’ll be mobile again in a week or so and able to continue my meditation and other work in person, both at the Mansion and Bishop Maginn High School.

In the meantime, we did a lot because Tania Woodward cares a lot.

I’m asking for support for the Mansion project again, we’re down to $300, lower than I like to go.

Over the last two weeks, we purchased three Amazon Fire tablets for Mansion residents that didn’t have them (they all have them now), funded the Mansion Halloween Festival, which is going to be spectacular (again, thanks to Tania, who is a Halloween fanatic).

We sent boxes of witches’ hats, scary door posters, ghouls and monsters that light up outside at night, LED lights for the Halloween/Christmas tree, already up, and art supplies for the residents to paint their own cards and Halloween paintings and posters.

We bought 50 pumpkins to decorate the Mansion entrance hall and the residents have already painted 20 of them. We’re working on Halloween gift kits. We bought mums for inside and outside.

In addition, we sent more than $100 worth of new clothes to new residents that had none, got Fred blades, brushes, and soap so he can shave in an old-fashioned way, and about five pairs of boots and shoes. We purchased a small screen TV for a new resident who came with nothing.

On my list are blankets and sweaters as the cold weather approaches. We also funded three outings, the first outings allowed since Covid-19.

The list is longer – I leave off the small things – but any support would be appreciated. Fall is always a busy and needy time at the Mansion as the weather shifts. You can contribute easily and swiftly via Paypal, [email protected] or Venmo, [email protected].

I’d also like to distribute some gift cards to some of the Mansion aides and one or two refugee families. A new activities director has been hired, she will want some fresh art supplies and games.

I’m afraid the simplest way to do this is to send me a donation (same places) and I can get the cards and avoid all the problems we are having with authentication. I had to see donations wasted. Wal-Mart’s security rules make it difficult for people to buy the cards and authenticate them.

You can contribute via Paypal, [email protected], same on Venmo.

We are expecting hundreds of Afghan refugees coming into the Albany area, some of their children will end up at Bishop Maginn. I am told they will need help, so I’m starting to salt some money away for them. Our help will be focused on the children, their school needs, and winter clothes.

I’ve learned what we can do and what we can’t do. We do small acts of great kindness. We may also throw up a wish list or two when the refugees needs are clear.

If you are able and wish to help, and don’t like going online, you can send your donation to Jon Katz, The Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

And thank you. I’m proud that our work is continuing uninterrupted. One troubled foot can’t slow us down.

In June, I came across a family carpentry company online that has made wooden vegetables, bread, and fruit displays for years.

The stands seemed to fit the Amish needs perfectly. I got a fruit stand with nine baskets for them; that was a big success. The real challenge for me is assembling these stands, this is new to me, and I usually screw up and redo it two or three times.

But I kept looking for a better-baked goods display – they sell pies, donuts, bread loaves, cookies, and zucchini and squash bread well into Fall.

I thought this could be very helpful to them. It’s the kind of thing they love but either build for themselves or don’t get at all.

As the farmstand season nears the end,  the company’s prices came down. I got this idea that this could be a Trifecta in the doing good department, which I intend to maintain right up to through and beyond my foot surgery. I don’t need to stand on both feet or walk to do my work.

There are three winners: the Millers, the refugees, the kids at BMHS. The Amish do the swap, and this is a good trade for them.

It’s interesting; both the Mansion resident and the refugee children are crazy about these bracelets. I’m not sure what these two cultures have in common, but both love colorful and straightforward (and free things.)

The Amish might be uneasy if I won’t take payment (assuming they want it at all), but they have no hesitation about bartering. They’ve agreed to have the refugee students come and visit; that is something I’d love to see happen.

And I had what I thought was a neat idea. I would buy the bread and baked goods wooden stand, and instead of taking money for it, I’d take 100 Amish necklaces and distribute one of them to every Mansion resident and  Bishop Maginn refugee child (or teacher) who wants on.

The stand came in two big boxes yesterday, and Maria showed me how to assemble it this morning. It took me about three hours to move the stand upside down and back using the Alan wrench.

I had to use the Alan wrench and get all the screws in the suitable holes. I’m not familiar with carpentry or putting things together, but I did it, leaving some sore muscles and feet behind. In my life up here, I am learning new things all the time and loving that.

I figured there was no point in keeping off my foot now; surgery is just six days away. It was sometimes tricky.

I hauled it outside to take this photo, and I am proud of it. I like the way it looks. The stand is steady, and the wooden baskets tilt forward for bread or pies, etc.

I want to surprise the Millers, so I think I’ll drop it off later tonight. I’ll have some fun torturing them about who did it (they will know), and then we’ll get down to bartering.

Yesterday, I offered to bring them some pizzas, which they love. For some reason, every family member hates broccoli, which was on the last pizza I got. And every person in the family told me so. I’m intrigued at how honest they are; Maria and I might not say anything in that circumstance.

But I was curious. How is it possible that every person in a family, young or old, male or female, parent and child, would all hate one kind of vegetable? When I asked, they all smiled—one of the not rare Amish secrets. The Bible had to have something to do with this.

They wouldn’t say how this dislike of broccoli came about. I made sure the pizzas I brought yesterday had no broccoli. When I dropped them off, I yelled, “pizza man, your broccoli pizzas are here,” I put them down by the door and then got into the car. The kids all came rushing out like a gang of hornets, each one saying they hated broccoli, they were sorry, but they thought they told me.

I shouted that God must have gotten sick eating broccoli, or maybe somebody threw some at Jesus; that was the only explanation I could think of for none of them like it. Most of them laughed; one or two didn’t.

But then I heard Barbara shouting to them (well, speaking loudly, they don’t ever call). She said I was kidding them, and everybody burst out laughing.

The children surprised me with their sharp sense of humor; they love to tease and tease back.  They laugh at me all the time and try to figure me out. I even joked about their shoes the other day.

They love fun making fun of my hobbling around sometimes on my wrong foot, and they love thumb wrestling. Tonight, I’ll sneak over there after dark and surprise them when they get up early in the morning.

I’ll play dumb for a while, then offer my deal. This feels great. I never imagined bringing joy to anybody with a bread stands. Nor did I ever imagine putting one of those together by myself.  Life is full of mystery if you let it in.

A member of the Army of Good sent us a stack of beautiful stuffed animals to hand out to the Mansion Residents. They were making some art in the dining room this afternoon, and there was much joy when Maria and I handed them out. I felt like Santa Claus in September.

The residents love cuddly stuffed animals to sleep with.

Then, as often happens at the Mansion, things got exciting.  A new resident arrived at the Mansion yesterday, and the aides were deep. I was glad I was there.

Two of them intercepted me before I got into the dining room and told me a new arrival, a  woman, had no clothes at all when she arrived – no spare socks, underwear shoes, pants, shirts, jackets, or slippers.

This is, for me, perhaps the highest level of emergency when it comes to the Mansion. I can’t bear to think of anyone there with no clothes to wear apart from what is on their back and body. Nothing shreds someone’s dignity more than having no clothes.

I went into high but familiar gear. To spare them any embarrassment, I get the clothes as quickly as I can.

I got on the phone and activated my emergency consignment store/thrift store network and offered the woman’s sizes – she is quite small.

I started with Beverly’s Trading Post; Beverly and Kyla sprang into action and said they would have some clothes ready for me in minutes.

An aide rushed to take measurements and text them to me as I headed for the store.

I knew some of the clothes – socks, underwear, slippers – have to be found online; I don’t give people second-hand clothes for their most personal needs. I’ll get more calls from the thrift shops as well.

I passed out the very soft and cuddly stuffed animals and rushed off to collect the clothes. I paid $85 in clothes for the very needy new resident. Tonight I’ll go online and order socks, shoes, underwear, and sweaters. Starting Friday, it’s getting a lot colder.

This woman will have everything she needs by Friday.

As I was returning with the first round of clothes, I learned that another emergency had erupted. Some of the aides had resigned rather than agree to be vaccinated for Covid – 19. This surprised and saddened me, but it is happening everywhere.

Some of the kitchen staff were out sick. Staffing is a crisis for elderly care facilities. Some health care workers are exhausted physically and emotionally and quit; others are tired of being insulted and called names by anti-vaccination people; others simply do not want to be vaccinated.

Kassi was rounding up vaccinated aides and volunteers to help serve dinner. I signed up. I’ll be there at 5, and it will be a great pleasure to help out. Maria has belly dancing and can’t make it to dinner.

I’m re-doubling my efforts in the coming weeks to the Mansion and Bishop Maginn regularly.

The Mansion faces the Delta Variant, and I want to be a regular presence there with Zinnia. Only by being present and known do I learn who needs want. If the residents don’t trust me, they won’t ask for help.

As to Bishop Maginn, they will increasingly likely be receiving Afghan refugee children into the school. This is right up their alley and mine. The school has become highly skilled in acclimating traumatized refugees into American cultural and educational life. They are adept at making them feel safe and well cared for.

The Army of Good has become quite skilled at supporting these children and ensuring they have the proper clothes, school books, and healthy food. The school told immigration officials that they are ready to accept these children. I told the school that we are too.

I’ve also spent some time trying to order a catered lunch for the Mansion next week. It’s been difficult; the restaurants all say they are short-staffed and overwhelmed.

I am looking ahead to an exciting and meaningful autumn.

In the short run, I better get used to helping at dinner time. I get the feeling I’ll be needed.

And I’m looking ahead to bringing food out from the kitchen to the residents and helping clean up. I’ve done this many times; I know where everything goes.

This is what I love to do; this is what I do. Bringing support directly to the people who need it the most. It is better to do good than to argue about what good is. I thank you for your support, which makes mine possible.