Keep Brandon at UNF
Donation protected
Brandon Williams is the first person to pursue a college degree in his family. His major is Mechanical Engineering and he completed his first year at the University of North Florida (UNF) this past spring.
Brandon’s ability to continue his education at UNF is in danger, and he needs the help of this community. Brandon needs $6200 to cover his complete bill (tuition, fees, books, etc.) for this upcoming school year. $3100 is needed by August 27th at 5pm to pay for his Fall classes or he must drop his classes. It is established that students who must take a break from their college education often do not return. Brandon may not be able to continue his education at UNF because of a situation that is beyond his control (read below).
Please give at least $10 and tell at least 10 people to do the same. And then have them tell 10 people and so on. We only need 620 people giving $10 to keep Brandon from becoming a statistic.
The first year of college is difficult under the best of circumstances. Those who are the first in their family to attend university, like Brandon, have even more challenges. The culture of higher education, along with the many processes and terms are often foreign to first generation students, because their families did not have the knowledge to guide them. Brandon Williams wisely signed up with the Connections Student Mentoring Program to connect with a UNF faculty or staff to help him navigate university life. This is where I come in, as Brandon’s mentor.
I have been blown away by the maturity level of Brandon and have the greatest respect for him. Not only is he serious about his classes, he carries the added burden of being a good example for his younger brother, who he does not want to go down the wrong path of their older brother. Since we began meeting in February 2018, Brandon has also had to work for Uber Eats, dealt with a close aunt that had a serious illness, and a cousin in jail that was thankfully released with all charges dropped.
Brandon’s hard work in high school paid off as he received scholarships and grants to cover the cost of his education while at UNF. This past Spring, Brandon was randomly selected for financial aid verification. Through that process, it was discovered that Brandon’s mom had been unintentionally filing her taxes incorrectly for several years. For Brandon to receive his scholarships (which would cover most of his semester bill) and grants for this Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, his mom would need to refile her corrected taxes for the corresponding financial aid year and going forward.
Brandon’s mom met with the IRS and will refile her taxes and pay any outstanding tax bill in time to allow Brandon to submit the required financial aid information for Fall 2019 and Fall 2020, but she does not have the necessary time to complete the refiling process for this upcoming year, Fall 2018 and Spring 2019.
Your help of at least $10 and telling at least 10 people about Brandon’s situation would mean so much to me as his mentor but will mean the world to Brandon. To have strangers come alongside him to support him in his pursuit of higher education will completely change the trajectory of his life.
Thank you.
---Chadwick Lockley
Brandon’s ability to continue his education at UNF is in danger, and he needs the help of this community. Brandon needs $6200 to cover his complete bill (tuition, fees, books, etc.) for this upcoming school year. $3100 is needed by August 27th at 5pm to pay for his Fall classes or he must drop his classes. It is established that students who must take a break from their college education often do not return. Brandon may not be able to continue his education at UNF because of a situation that is beyond his control (read below).
Please give at least $10 and tell at least 10 people to do the same. And then have them tell 10 people and so on. We only need 620 people giving $10 to keep Brandon from becoming a statistic.
The first year of college is difficult under the best of circumstances. Those who are the first in their family to attend university, like Brandon, have even more challenges. The culture of higher education, along with the many processes and terms are often foreign to first generation students, because their families did not have the knowledge to guide them. Brandon Williams wisely signed up with the Connections Student Mentoring Program to connect with a UNF faculty or staff to help him navigate university life. This is where I come in, as Brandon’s mentor.
I have been blown away by the maturity level of Brandon and have the greatest respect for him. Not only is he serious about his classes, he carries the added burden of being a good example for his younger brother, who he does not want to go down the wrong path of their older brother. Since we began meeting in February 2018, Brandon has also had to work for Uber Eats, dealt with a close aunt that had a serious illness, and a cousin in jail that was thankfully released with all charges dropped.
Brandon’s hard work in high school paid off as he received scholarships and grants to cover the cost of his education while at UNF. This past Spring, Brandon was randomly selected for financial aid verification. Through that process, it was discovered that Brandon’s mom had been unintentionally filing her taxes incorrectly for several years. For Brandon to receive his scholarships (which would cover most of his semester bill) and grants for this Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, his mom would need to refile her corrected taxes for the corresponding financial aid year and going forward.
Brandon’s mom met with the IRS and will refile her taxes and pay any outstanding tax bill in time to allow Brandon to submit the required financial aid information for Fall 2019 and Fall 2020, but she does not have the necessary time to complete the refiling process for this upcoming year, Fall 2018 and Spring 2019.
Your help of at least $10 and telling at least 10 people about Brandon’s situation would mean so much to me as his mentor but will mean the world to Brandon. To have strangers come alongside him to support him in his pursuit of higher education will completely change the trajectory of his life.
Thank you.
---Chadwick Lockley
Organiser
Chadwick Lockley
Organiser
Jacksonville, FL
