Mekhi's Stolen School Essentials
Donation protected
Who am I?
Hi, my name is Mekhi Marcelino. I'm a first-year undergrad student at the University of California, Santa Cruz and I am majoring in Computer Science. I'm Black and Filipino and was born on March 14, 2000. I originally hail from Los Angeles, California and I went to University High School in West LA.
What happened? On Thursday, October 19, 2017, myself and a group of friends took a Zipcar to San Jose in order to drop a friend off at the airport. On the way back, we made a stop at Chic-Fil-A in San Jose on Monterey Road to grab a quick bite to eat at around 8 pm (because there's no Chic-Fil-A in Santa Cruz, which is a tragedy for another day). When we finished our food at around 8:45 pm, we came back to the car to discover that the passenger side window had been smashed and the car had been broken into. My backpack, as well as my friend's apartment keys, were taken from the car. There were no witnesses (in the crowded parking lot) and no security camera aimed directly at the parking spot. The bag was also hidden from plain sight. Police did not arrive on the scene, and upon calling them and speaking to some officers who happened to be in the Chic-Fil-A drive-thru at the time, all they offered to do was link me to the SJPD.org website to file an online report (which takes weeks to process and most likely result in nothing).
Here are some photos of the event:

What do I need help with?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, my backpack was stolen, and seeing as I just came from class/tutoring earlier in the day I had books, supplies, personal effects, my new MacBook Pro and the Beats headphones I received when my grandmother purchased it for me, film rolls, portable charges, my glasses frames/case, my external hard drive, and generally all of my school work/agenda has been lost, not to mention that I am out of a backpack as well. Zipcar is also charging my friend 3x the expected cost for being 2 hours late from the dropoff time, although we had to wait over an hour and a half for the tow truck/Uber back to campus to come. On top of charging my friend for being late, it also seems that Zipcar is going to be charging my friend for the passenger side window being smashed, which is ridiculous. The on-campus apartment keys that were stolen also are priced ridiculously.
In summary With midterms coming up in the next two weeks, this honestly is an emergency for me. Being a university student is expensive as it is, regardless of what school or who you are. Personally, I do not have the type of money just laying around to replace what I had in my backpack. My friends also need assistance for their financial losses, and with nobody really being on our side we didn't know where to turn. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and the altercation was not a confrontation at gunpoint, but this truly is a hassle and has completely disrupted my academic/personal flow that I have barely had the chance to truly get into. I hate asking people for anything, but I will put my pride aside only because it's absolutely necessary. Anything helps, and my friends and I especially would be eternally grateful for any support possible. Everything and anything helps, and with midterms coming up within the next two weeks it would be tough to go without my computer.
Thank you for your time, and I really appreciate any support and general positive thoughts towards my current situation. It's a rough time and I do not wish this upon anybody.
Have a great day and be safe, Mekhi Marcelino
What happened? On Thursday, October 19, 2017, myself and a group of friends took a Zipcar to San Jose in order to drop a friend off at the airport. On the way back, we made a stop at Chic-Fil-A in San Jose on Monterey Road to grab a quick bite to eat at around 8 pm (because there's no Chic-Fil-A in Santa Cruz, which is a tragedy for another day). When we finished our food at around 8:45 pm, we came back to the car to discover that the passenger side window had been smashed and the car had been broken into. My backpack, as well as my friend's apartment keys, were taken from the car. There were no witnesses (in the crowded parking lot) and no security camera aimed directly at the parking spot. The bag was also hidden from plain sight. Police did not arrive on the scene, and upon calling them and speaking to some officers who happened to be in the Chic-Fil-A drive-thru at the time, all they offered to do was link me to the SJPD.org website to file an online report (which takes weeks to process and most likely result in nothing).
Here are some photos of the event:

What do I need help with?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, my backpack was stolen, and seeing as I just came from class/tutoring earlier in the day I had books, supplies, personal effects, my new MacBook Pro and the Beats headphones I received when my grandmother purchased it for me, film rolls, portable charges, my glasses frames/case, my external hard drive, and generally all of my school work/agenda has been lost, not to mention that I am out of a backpack as well. Zipcar is also charging my friend 3x the expected cost for being 2 hours late from the dropoff time, although we had to wait over an hour and a half for the tow truck/Uber back to campus to come. On top of charging my friend for being late, it also seems that Zipcar is going to be charging my friend for the passenger side window being smashed, which is ridiculous. The on-campus apartment keys that were stolen also are priced ridiculously.
In summary With midterms coming up in the next two weeks, this honestly is an emergency for me. Being a university student is expensive as it is, regardless of what school or who you are. Personally, I do not have the type of money just laying around to replace what I had in my backpack. My friends also need assistance for their financial losses, and with nobody really being on our side we didn't know where to turn. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and the altercation was not a confrontation at gunpoint, but this truly is a hassle and has completely disrupted my academic/personal flow that I have barely had the chance to truly get into. I hate asking people for anything, but I will put my pride aside only because it's absolutely necessary. Anything helps, and my friends and I especially would be eternally grateful for any support possible. Everything and anything helps, and with midterms coming up within the next two weeks it would be tough to go without my computer.
Thank you for your time, and I really appreciate any support and general positive thoughts towards my current situation. It's a rough time and I do not wish this upon anybody.
Have a great day and be safe, Mekhi Marcelino
Organizer and beneficiary
Mekhi Marcelino
Organizer
Santa Cruz, CA
Maria Corazon Marcelino
Beneficiary
