Help Blair stay in Ithaca College

Our GoFundMe is to help this kind young man from Kenya stay at Ithaca College to study business. It would pay the 20 percent tuition needed (above his 80 percent scholarship) to continue his education and to have his well-earned credits counted from last semester as well. We think that this will also buy him enough time to figure out how to make his education sustainable for the next 3 years. Help us get Blair back to Ithaca!!

Blair’s story: My daughter, Chianina, started at Ithaca College in New York this past fall. The very first week she attended Ithaca she made fast friends with an international student from Kenya. Chiarina is a kind and gentle person who sees the best in people, and somehow, she found a kindred spirit and like-minded soul in her now best friend, Blair.

Thanksgiving rolled around, and Chianina asked for Blair to come stay with us and have a proper Turkey dinner. We very much enjoyed Blair’s first Thanksgiving, and he got to experience a feast cooked by Stacy (and Papa!). Truth be told, Blair was a wholesome influence on all of my family, reminding us how much we have to be grateful for. Thanksgiving came and went in a blink, and then Christmas was upon us.

Chianina asked again if Blair could spend Christmas with us because he couldn’t afford to fly back and forth to Kenya. When Chianina returned with Blair to winter with us, she was also kind enough to bring Omicron with her as well. In the weeks that followed, we all got to know each other as we weathered COVID together and played a lot of board games. All the kids (and animals) enjoy Blair’s company and he seems to bring out the fun in all of us.

I learned a lot about this kid. I experienced his goodness. I learned that the American dream is alive in him -- and he has the kind of hustle that will eventually manifest into something extraordinary. I learned that he got an academic scholarship for 80% of his tuition and saw that he was in good standing and got great grades, even with English as his second language! I also learned that his financial circumstances back home had shifted from when he arrived last fall. His current situation was beyond his control. I learned that his family is trying very hard back home to try to come up with 20% of his tuition that is needed for him to return next week. I suspect that his mother would have to sacrifice a little more than she should to make this work for her son. Beyond all that -- I learned that the boy can eat and can take down an enormous amount of chili, I keep making crockpot after crockpot, and Blair inhales it.

Blair can’t work in the U.S. with a student visa; he probably wouldn’t be having an issue right now if he could. He can’t get a student loan because he isn’t a US citizen. He has no family in the U.S. to help support him.

Our Go Fund Me is to help this kind young man stay in college to study business. It would pay the 20 percent tuition needed (above his 80 percent scholarship) to continue his education and to have his well-earned credits counted from last semester as well. We think that this will also buy him enough time to figure out how to make his education sustainable for the next 3 years. Help us get Blair back to Ithaca!!