Help us pay last of of Bryan's Luther tuition

I'm Amy, and my youngest offspring is Bryan, who will turn 21 in April. We're seeking help to pay off college tuition for Bryan, who's a junior, to finish off this semester and allow us to regroup before his senior year of college starts in the fall.

I believe in the ethic of ask and you shall receive, and I believe in my family, this community, and that anything given here will benefit more people than just us in the future.

Bryan was a member of the Estherville Lincoln Central Class of 2021, where he was a standout in the fine arts, from speech and theater to choir, Quiz Bowl, robotics and National History Day. 

Now, he is a member of the Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) class of 2025. He works all year at the college grill, Marty's, and has worked summers full time at a local convenience store. He's hoping for an internship this summer, either part time to reduce his necessary hours at the store, or full time, paid comparably to a full time summer job. 

It was thanks to the mentoring and encouragement of two ELC teachers who are Luther alumni that Bryan could envision himself at a college like Luther, applied to Luther, and received a total of $64,000 in scholarships. It was a no-brainer for him to attend. It wasn't his grades (obviously!!!), or necessarily his achievements that got him in. He does possess a great deal of giftedness and natural talent. His high school teachers and Luther saw something in his personal qualities that was beyond the usual, in his essay and the testimonials of teachers and staff at ELC.

I won't go into the emotional and financial devastation that Bryan's dad, Ed's, long-haul COVID has brought to our family since 2020. While some interventions have improved his symptoms somewhat, there's no timeline for when he might recover his energy and abilities. It's been a factor in struggling to pay the expected family contribution of Bryan's tuition, and added to that we have lost a source of income that was keeping us afloat from the summer of 2021 to, well, exactly a year ago in 2023 when we received the final payment from a contract gig. I work--a lot-- for the local newspaper. However, I've been unable to secure another second job or gig in the ensuing year, other than a couple of freelance assignments. For two years, I have attempted to secure a home equity investor, loan, or line of credit on our paid off house to pay tuition, get a new roof on the house, refurbish the bathroom, including extra long/tall furnishings to accommodate Ed's unusual height, pay off important debts and expenses, etc.

Due to the cut in income between 2022 and 2023 and continuing, Luther’s financial services office was so additionally generous and worked with us to the extent they could to reduce Bryan's bill this semester.

So here we are -- out of approximately $4,000 for the semester, $8,000 for the year, we have about $2,200 left, including late fees. $1,200 would get us out of the woods so Bryan could register for his senior year classes. A clean slate would buy us time to get a higher paying second gig or otherwise line up what we need.

Thank you for your consideration. I know things are tough all around, but also that abundance and greater things are on the way!