Today, I sent a check for $4,500 to Sue Silverstein from a donor who wanted to help Folasade Tijani pay room and board fees so she could live at Siena College when she goes in September. She’s going on a full scholarship; she is a brilliant student.

Sue has another check for $4,500 from a different donor in her possession; she will send the two bills to the college this week.

Folasade will have her room on campus,  she will not have to commute seven hours a day by bus or switch to a different school, and she will have the whole college life experience as she begins her journey to medical school and her dream of being a doctor who cares for children.

I met with Folosade Friday; she is grateful to her donors and the many people helping us raise some money for her beyond tuition. Folosade is also scared half to death; she will be alone and responsible for herself for the first time.

She isn’t sure what she will need and how her academic life will unfold. She will leave all of her friends and teachers behind.

She is pretty brave, although she doesn’t quite know it. Her family comes from Nigeria and the Caribbean.

She is worth every penny and will make for a great citizen of this country.

Medical school is difficult and expensive; she will work hard for years. At times, it seems overwhelming to her. She is brave and determined.

I planned to take a month or two (school starts in August) to raise $3,000 for expenses – beds and blankets, textbooks, computer equipment, and entertainment. My plan has changed. She has a lot of decisions to make now and a lot of things to prepare and purchase (she’s working two jobs this summer to raise money on her own).

 

 

So here’s a final chance to contribute to Fosalade’s journey, especially the new expenses she will incur. The family has little money to help.

You can donate via Paypal, [email protected], Venmo, Jon Katz@Jon-Katz-13, or by check, Jon Katz, Folasade Expenses Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.   Please write “Solasade Expenses Fund” on checks or payments.

Folosade has agreed to be a dorm counselor beginning with her sophomore year, and the college will pay for her room and board.

This is a last call to those who might want to help her by donating to the Folosade Tuition Fund. I’ve got about $1,200 so far (more may be coming in the mail); I’m hoping for more; I know she will need more, but I will gratefully accept and settle for what I have by Thursday. So will she.

I’ll post the total amount we received.

On that day, I’ll send her a check for whatever I have raised, and she will take it from there. I won’t try to fundraise anymore for her after today unless she needs help or asks for help down the road.

She is ready to sail out independently and make her way, which could not have happened without the help of  Sue, the donors, and the wonderful people in the Army Of Good.

Lots of people need help, and it’s time for us to be helping them also. This is my calling and purpose. It gives me the greatest joy. We did well by her.

I have a policy with refugee families to leave them alone once we’ve helped them.

They are proud and hard-working people and deserve their privacy. And there are lots of people who also need help.

Folosade doesn’t need a lot of attention focused on her once she goes to college.

We’ve gotten eight refugee kids into the best private schools in the area, and I am proud to say I’ve never contacted them or taken their photos once they were accepted.

Most of them have graciously contacted me to thank me and tell me how they are doing. I don’t plan to be writing about Fosolade once she goes off to college, not unless she wants me to. We might meet again when she comes home on school break; she will want to see Sue Silverstein, her mentor, and angel.

I don’t have words to do justice to what Sue has done for these children when so many others have turned their backs.

I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart, as does she.