QUILT TO LAST!

Bishop Maginn High School is helping refugee families one blanket at a time.

On Nov. 3, the Albany diocesan high school held a quilt-making day, where local fabric artist, Maria Wolf, helped students sew quilts for newly arriving refugee families from Afghanistan.

“We have kids here who are refugees, who are making quilts for other refugees,” said Sue Silverstein, director of Campus Ministry and Community Service and the Theology Department Chair.

The quilts are just a small part of the school’s ongoing donation campaign to acquire needed items for new refugee families, many of whom are arriving with little or no supplies. In September, New York State anticipated receiving over 1,000 Afghan refugees by March 2022, with at least 100 placed in Albany.

Many families from Afghanistan were not prepared for the Northeast’s colder climate, said Silverstein, and are seeking warm blankets and quilts as the winter months roll in.

Jon Katz, a long-time supporter of Bishop Maginn, is helping garner supplies through his online following, also known as the “Army of Good.” A journalist and author by trade, Katz runs a popular blog — www.bedlamfarm.com — that reaches over three million readers. Katz’s readers — or “army” as they are known — all share a common mission: to go forth and do some good.

Katz put the word out about Bishop Maginn’s collection and donations started pouring in. Through his time at the school, Katz noted that “Bishop Maginn has become a central part of my blog.”

“This place really carries out the mission of Jesus Christ,” Katz added. “People come from all different religions, but faith is practiced here.”

Bishop Maginn’s art room, where the quilt making took place, is packed with containers of donations, from sheets and coats to towels and winter gear. The items will be distributed to local refugee support groups or picked up by social workers who can bring supplies directly to families in need.

“It’s unreal, the response from people,” Silverstein said. “There’s response from all over the country.”

Wolf, who is also Katz’s wife, showed students how to string the layers of the donated quilts together. Each student was meticulous in their work, careful to keep their lines straight for the final product.

“People send me their old quilts (to work with), so it has sentimental value,” Wolf said. “And then it gets to benefit someone else.”

Katz is a frequent visitor, often with his 2-year-old Golden Labrador, Zinnia.  When Zinnia was just a puppy, Katz would bring her to Bishop Maginn’s Writers’ Workshop class every Wednesday for students to practice training her as a therapy dog. Naturally, the whole school fell in love with the pooch and even crowned Zinnia prom queen at their dance last year.

Zinnia spent the day roaming about the art zoom, picking up dropped French fries from students’ lunch, or sitting by the feet of others working on their quilts.

Silverstein and Katz are almost done collecting for another donation project: putting together Thanksgiving Dinner baskets for at least 30 refugee families. Each basket will have Thanksgiving goodies, plus gift cards for turkeys. Silverstein hopes the baskets will help welcome the new families to America.

“People are just so good,” said Silverstein. “I don’t think (the families) anticipated this degree of kindness.”