Scripps Spring Student Mutual Aid Fund
Donation protected
JANUARY 24th UPDATE:
WE'VE REACHED OUR GOAL! We've successfully raised over $41,701 and will be able fully meet EVERY student's funding request. If you feel inclined, please keep donating! We will be operating up an emergency grant throughout the semester so all extra funds will be directed toward that. THANK YOU again for your solidarity and contributions. This would not have been possible without you.
JANUARY 20th, 2021 UPDATE:
We are reviving our fundraising efforts to meet student need in Spring 2021. Based on the results of our spring mutual aid application form, we are aiming to raise $41,701 by Jan 24th. Please see the description below to learn how funds are allocated and distributed!
Concurrent Fundraising Efforts:
We are also collecting funds through the following Venmo accounts:
@ScrippsMutualAid-1
@ScrippsMutualAid-2
@ScrippsMutualAid-3
Our Spring 2021 Mutual Aid Fund Application Form can be found here and on our Linktree (linktr.ee/nobodyfailsatscripps). The application will close at 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, 1/17.
If you are an alumnae who is interested in partnering with us for a matching donation, please email us at [email redacted]
If you have any questions, please contact [email redacted] or @nobodyfailsatscripps on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
In Solidarity,
Nobody Fails at Scripps
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JULY 2020 UPDATE: WE HAVE REACHED OUR GOAL! We are now able to fully meet EVERY student's request IN FULL. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your support. We will be leaving the fundraiser open for a few more days, but PLEASE NOTE that any new donations will be donated to similar mutual aid efforts at Harvey Mudd College and Claremont McKenna College.
This GoFundMe is organized by Nobody Fails at Scripps, a collective of 20+ student organizers who are looking to support fellow students as they deal with the devastating effects of this global pandemic. Your contributions will be distributed in the form of need-based grants to students facing hardships such as housing and/or food insecurity, unexpected medical bills, providing for family members and loved ones, loss of income, unemployment, mental and physical health, and restricted accommodations.
Background:
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, students were given 1 week to get off campus. Some were rendered effectively homeless, and many students with on-campus jobs were left without full compensation and without a reliable source of income. In addition, students returned home to drastically disparate home conditions, exacerbated by the fact that Scripps is not providing any summer housing (unlike Pomona) or summer jobs for students.
Why our current institutional funding options are limited:
These were our funding options:
--The SAS (Scripps Associated Students) COVID-19 fund, which is now closed, gave $13,740 to 93 students. However, these funds maxed out at $150 per student and were solely reimbursement-based. Additionally, these funds could not be used toward making rent or paying utilities.
--The Scripps CARES Act funding allocations were given to nearly 98% of the student body, even though it is clear that not every student needed the money. Consequently, students in the most dire financial situations (according to their FAFSA, not their current financial situation), were only given between $150 and $600.
--The Scripps College Student Emergency Fund - run by the Dean of Students, Primary Contact Deans, and the Office of Financial Aid - was barely advertised to students and the application form is not publicly available. This maxes out at $300, and students can only receive this grant once per year. This funding cannot be used for housing expenses such as rent, utilities, or deposits.
This goes to show that there is no source of current need-based institutional funding that can cover large expenses. None of the funding that Scripps has provided is realistically enough to support students through the summer, leaving our students hanging during a global pandemic.
Which students will benefit from this funding?
Nobody Fails at Scripps released a funding interest form to gauge students’ financial needs. The form will be closing on Friday, May 29th. As of May 27th, nearly 30 students have filled out the interest form, of which:
-80.8% of respondents are First-Gen/Low-Income
-90.8% of respondents are expected to contribute towards their families’ expenses
-76.9% of respondents have one or more family members who have lost a job as a result of the pandemic
-73.1% would have had a source of income but that is no longer the case due to the pandemic
-46.2% of students have indicated that they (or their families) may not have stable housing for the summer
Furthermore:
-84.6% of students were ineligible to receive a federal CARES Act stimulus check for $1,200 - either because of their tax filing as dependents, or due to other factors including citizenship.
-A prior survey of 787 Scripps students (71.8%) conducted during our movement for a universal grading policy also showed that 1 in 5 Scripps students are now caretakers in their households.
Estimated Costs:
As explained previously, funding resources that were or are currently available to students are limited in their scope and ability to provide relevant financial relief. Based on the demonstrated need from our interest survey, we project that a budget of at least $50,000 will fully meet students’ needs during the summer. The needs for the summer include rent, food, transportation, utilities, Wi-Fi, assistance for family bills, as well as medical bills, including medication for pre-existing conditions, mental health services, and supporting family impacted by COVID-19. As the full consequences of COVID-19 continue to unfold, we are organizing this campaign to be able to meet current and impending needs of Scripps College students to stand in solidarity with members of our community who are most at risk.
Our Timeline:
We hope to have all necessary funds by June 7th so that we can distribute them to students as soon as possible and before we are too far into the summer. We plan on distributing funds starting June 15th to have all funds distributed within 1-2 weeks of that.
Funding Allocation - Our Ranking System:
We understand that we are requesting a large amount of donations, so we want to be transparent with our funding system. Students will be required to rank their requests according to our need scale from 1-5.
Level 1 Need:
--Short-term, Immediate, One-time funding need (e.g. flight tickets)
Level 2 Need:
--Have an income, but need support with recurring bills (e.g. rent, utilities, etc.)
Level 3 Need:
--Do not have an income for the summer and looking to support themselves alone
Level 4 Need:
--Do not have an income for the summer and looking to support others/their family in addition to themselves
--1 or more family members lost a source of income due to COVID-19
Level 5 Need:
--Do not have an income for the summer, looking to support others/their family in addition to themselves
--1 or more family members lost a source of income due to COVID-19
--Also have COVID-specific medical bills or other extenuating circumstances
Fund Allocation Process:
1. A student requests funding from our summer form which will be released on May 30th and the deadline for submissions will be on June 3rd.
2. The request is anonymized by a single volunteer whose role requires them to identify the person who submitted the request. Students will be referred to as Student 1, 2, etc.
3. All 10 volunteers on the Mutual Aid Committee will see the anonymized requests and determine funding allocations using the ranking system described above. Students will be notified whether their request was approved (and how much was approved) in the week following application submissions.
4. The funds are transferred through Zelle, Venmo, or checks from the 3 students under whom the GoFundMe is registered. The single volunteer with un-anonymized student information will then coordinate with these 3 volunteers, giving them each a list of students and the amount to be transferred to each. These volunteers will contact each student to coordinate the transfer of funds.
Concurrent Fundraising Efforts:
We are also collecting funds through the following Venmo accounts:
@ScrippsMutualAid-1
@ScrippsMutualAid-2
@ScrippsMutualAid-3
@ScrippsMutualAid-4
If you are an alumnae who is interested in partnering with us for a matching donation, please email us at [email redacted]
If you have any questions, please contact [email redacted] or @nobodyfailsatscripps on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
In Solidarity,
Nobody Fails at Scripps
WE'VE REACHED OUR GOAL! We've successfully raised over $41,701 and will be able fully meet EVERY student's funding request. If you feel inclined, please keep donating! We will be operating up an emergency grant throughout the semester so all extra funds will be directed toward that. THANK YOU again for your solidarity and contributions. This would not have been possible without you.
JANUARY 20th, 2021 UPDATE:
We are reviving our fundraising efforts to meet student need in Spring 2021. Based on the results of our spring mutual aid application form, we are aiming to raise $41,701 by Jan 24th. Please see the description below to learn how funds are allocated and distributed!
Concurrent Fundraising Efforts:
We are also collecting funds through the following Venmo accounts:
@ScrippsMutualAid-1
@ScrippsMutualAid-2
@ScrippsMutualAid-3
Our Spring 2021 Mutual Aid Fund Application Form can be found here and on our Linktree (linktr.ee/nobodyfailsatscripps). The application will close at 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, 1/17.
If you are an alumnae who is interested in partnering with us for a matching donation, please email us at [email redacted]
If you have any questions, please contact [email redacted] or @nobodyfailsatscripps on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
In Solidarity,
Nobody Fails at Scripps
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JULY 2020 UPDATE: WE HAVE REACHED OUR GOAL! We are now able to fully meet EVERY student's request IN FULL. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your support. We will be leaving the fundraiser open for a few more days, but PLEASE NOTE that any new donations will be donated to similar mutual aid efforts at Harvey Mudd College and Claremont McKenna College.
This GoFundMe is organized by Nobody Fails at Scripps, a collective of 20+ student organizers who are looking to support fellow students as they deal with the devastating effects of this global pandemic. Your contributions will be distributed in the form of need-based grants to students facing hardships such as housing and/or food insecurity, unexpected medical bills, providing for family members and loved ones, loss of income, unemployment, mental and physical health, and restricted accommodations.
Background:
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, students were given 1 week to get off campus. Some were rendered effectively homeless, and many students with on-campus jobs were left without full compensation and without a reliable source of income. In addition, students returned home to drastically disparate home conditions, exacerbated by the fact that Scripps is not providing any summer housing (unlike Pomona) or summer jobs for students.
Why our current institutional funding options are limited:
These were our funding options:
--The SAS (Scripps Associated Students) COVID-19 fund, which is now closed, gave $13,740 to 93 students. However, these funds maxed out at $150 per student and were solely reimbursement-based. Additionally, these funds could not be used toward making rent or paying utilities.
--The Scripps CARES Act funding allocations were given to nearly 98% of the student body, even though it is clear that not every student needed the money. Consequently, students in the most dire financial situations (according to their FAFSA, not their current financial situation), were only given between $150 and $600.
--The Scripps College Student Emergency Fund - run by the Dean of Students, Primary Contact Deans, and the Office of Financial Aid - was barely advertised to students and the application form is not publicly available. This maxes out at $300, and students can only receive this grant once per year. This funding cannot be used for housing expenses such as rent, utilities, or deposits.
This goes to show that there is no source of current need-based institutional funding that can cover large expenses. None of the funding that Scripps has provided is realistically enough to support students through the summer, leaving our students hanging during a global pandemic.
Which students will benefit from this funding?
Nobody Fails at Scripps released a funding interest form to gauge students’ financial needs. The form will be closing on Friday, May 29th. As of May 27th, nearly 30 students have filled out the interest form, of which:
-80.8% of respondents are First-Gen/Low-Income
-90.8% of respondents are expected to contribute towards their families’ expenses
-76.9% of respondents have one or more family members who have lost a job as a result of the pandemic
-73.1% would have had a source of income but that is no longer the case due to the pandemic
-46.2% of students have indicated that they (or their families) may not have stable housing for the summer
Furthermore:
-84.6% of students were ineligible to receive a federal CARES Act stimulus check for $1,200 - either because of their tax filing as dependents, or due to other factors including citizenship.
-A prior survey of 787 Scripps students (71.8%) conducted during our movement for a universal grading policy also showed that 1 in 5 Scripps students are now caretakers in their households.
Estimated Costs:
As explained previously, funding resources that were or are currently available to students are limited in their scope and ability to provide relevant financial relief. Based on the demonstrated need from our interest survey, we project that a budget of at least $50,000 will fully meet students’ needs during the summer. The needs for the summer include rent, food, transportation, utilities, Wi-Fi, assistance for family bills, as well as medical bills, including medication for pre-existing conditions, mental health services, and supporting family impacted by COVID-19. As the full consequences of COVID-19 continue to unfold, we are organizing this campaign to be able to meet current and impending needs of Scripps College students to stand in solidarity with members of our community who are most at risk.
Our Timeline:
We hope to have all necessary funds by June 7th so that we can distribute them to students as soon as possible and before we are too far into the summer. We plan on distributing funds starting June 15th to have all funds distributed within 1-2 weeks of that.
Funding Allocation - Our Ranking System:
We understand that we are requesting a large amount of donations, so we want to be transparent with our funding system. Students will be required to rank their requests according to our need scale from 1-5.
Level 1 Need:
--Short-term, Immediate, One-time funding need (e.g. flight tickets)
Level 2 Need:
--Have an income, but need support with recurring bills (e.g. rent, utilities, etc.)
Level 3 Need:
--Do not have an income for the summer and looking to support themselves alone
Level 4 Need:
--Do not have an income for the summer and looking to support others/their family in addition to themselves
--1 or more family members lost a source of income due to COVID-19
Level 5 Need:
--Do not have an income for the summer, looking to support others/their family in addition to themselves
--1 or more family members lost a source of income due to COVID-19
--Also have COVID-specific medical bills or other extenuating circumstances
Fund Allocation Process:
1. A student requests funding from our summer form which will be released on May 30th and the deadline for submissions will be on June 3rd.
2. The request is anonymized by a single volunteer whose role requires them to identify the person who submitted the request. Students will be referred to as Student 1, 2, etc.
3. All 10 volunteers on the Mutual Aid Committee will see the anonymized requests and determine funding allocations using the ranking system described above. Students will be notified whether their request was approved (and how much was approved) in the week following application submissions.
4. The funds are transferred through Zelle, Venmo, or checks from the 3 students under whom the GoFundMe is registered. The single volunteer with un-anonymized student information will then coordinate with these 3 volunteers, giving them each a list of students and the amount to be transferred to each. These volunteers will contact each student to coordinate the transfer of funds.
Concurrent Fundraising Efforts:
We are also collecting funds through the following Venmo accounts:
@ScrippsMutualAid-1
@ScrippsMutualAid-2
@ScrippsMutualAid-3
@ScrippsMutualAid-4
If you are an alumnae who is interested in partnering with us for a matching donation, please email us at [email redacted]
If you have any questions, please contact [email redacted] or @nobodyfailsatscripps on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
In Solidarity,
Nobody Fails at Scripps
Organizer and beneficiary
Nobody Fails At Scripps
Organizer
Claremont, CA
Samhita Kadiyala
Beneficiary