Dear God,

There’s a guy down here in Glens Falls, N.Y. that you seem to be piling on a little bit too much.

I guess that’s what makes you so mysterious to me.

Matt Congdon devotes essentially his every waking moment to improve the lives of neighborhood kids whose parents won’t or can’t.

He feeds them, studies with them, teaches them manners, and he used to absolutely love to play basketball with them.

Then, for whatever twisted reason, his leg had to come off because the diabetes waging war with his body won a big battle.

It was a test from you probably, but I’m not sure why.

He persevered though, and passed that test.

He joked that he gave his leg up for lent, and soon he was back to work, back saving these kids from inside the safe walls at 60 Montcalm St.

But this year you threw a couple more tests, some really big curveballs.

First, under your watch, life at the Glens Falls Area Youth Center got tougher because funding from a major charity organization was cut by $50,000. That’s ironic to me because the money he saves the community down the road by setting kids straight now seems well worth the investment.

It crushed him to think of not being able to provide dinner for these kids who otherwise might not eat, but that’s likely with a $50,000 cut.

So an online campaign was started: (https://www.gofundme.com/ittakesacommunity) – but few have jumped to help so far –

totaling only $2,000 of the $50,000 shortfall.

Curveball two came in the form of another infection, another surgery and another lost leg.

When I heard the news, I felt like I had been punched – so I can’t even imagine what he felt. The man who hundreds of kids in the Glens Falls area over decades have looked up to as a father figure literally had his legs taken out from under him.

His reaction, “Just proves the old adage of a man not having a good leg to stand on.”

Typical, laugh it off, get back to work. Which is what he did.

But his tests started even earlier, when cancer struck his brother, Bob, his long-time partner at the Youth Center, leaving him disfigured and without an ear. Bob is the artist who brought the center’s walls to life. He’s also the chef many nights.

But now he’s retiring.

So many tests. And why?

Why heap on to a guy who has already endured so much and by all accounts is good and decent.

In return for all that has been taken, I’m asking that you and anyone reading this help lighten his load a little.

Ease up on the tests from above please. And for those down here, I’d ask you to please donate to make sure these kids can still have dinner each night and get the services they now get.

And if you’re feeling really generous, help Matt too. With two legs gone, life will never be the same. His house needs retrofitting to allow this proud man to continue living independently. A fund-raiser is planned at the Glens Falls Elks lodge on Nov. 21.

And if you question the worthiness of both efforts, go spend half an hour when he’s at the center. Watch the kids react to him. When they walk through those doors, no matter who they are before they walk in, they know they are in both a sanctuary and a school of life, taught by a guy and his brother who know a little bit about giving and loss.

Let’s help lighten their load.