The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all of us, and especially our students. The rapid move from classroom instruction and on-campus living to a fully online platform combined with the economic slowdown caused personal and financial hardships for many of our students. The majority of our students work full or part-time and the crisis has caused them a reduction in work hours or loss of employment entirely. Many students depend on this income to pay for college as well as living expenses.

In response to our students’ need, we established the MGA Disaster Relief Fund to help students impacted by COVID-19. This fund will aid students who are experiencing extreme financial hardship due to this crisis. Gifts will assist those in need by helping defray costs associated with the unexpected campus closure, technology to support remote learning, and living expenses such as rent, utility bills, car payments, groceries, healthcare needs, and other critical needs.

The MGA Disaster Relief fund will also provide much needed scholarship support to those students impacted by the pandemic. In 2019, the MGA Foundation awarded more than 300 scholarships totaling $390,000. Due to the economic downturn, we are currently forecasting a reduction of $50,000 in available scholarship funding from our endowed scholarships which have been impacted by the market. This reduction in scholarship funding comes at a time when many of our students will need this support even more.

During these times of crisis, it is important that we come together as one community to support our students in need. With the generous support from our donors, like you, the MGA Foundation will be ready to respond to the short-term needs of our students as well as their long-term success. Your generosity will help our University family stay strong as we face this pandemic together.