Urgent relief when we needed it most

Before the crisis hit, I was living in the dorms since I am from the Big Island of Hawai'i. I am currently a sophomore and planning on majoring in Marketing to pursue a career as a marketing manager. I was working two jobs, both in the restaurant/cafe industry, so when news of the stay at home order came in, and more and more cases of COVID were found, I was laid off of both jobs because they could not financially support the staff. This was around spring break, when UH Mānoa announced they will be doing online classes indefinitely.

This was also around the time when both of my parents were unfortunately laid off as well. Both of them work in the tourism industry, so this pandemic was extremely detrimental to the companies they work for. Even though there isn't much work for tour companies right now, I was still shocked that they would fire my mother, who was a general manager for the company. I am not from a high income family, and my parents are divorced, so it is just myself and my mom. My mom won't tell me, but I know we are struggling financially, and if this goes on any longer we don't know what we can do.

I am extremely grateful for this urgent student relief award, so I could help my mom pay for utilities and groceries at least once.

I just wanted to say thank you again, to the donors who helped me and my family! I am truly grateful for this donation and appreciate the opportunity that UH gave me to receive such a wonderful award. I hope everyone is safe and this pandemic ends soon.