Mesa College
Mesa College in Linda Vista. Photo by Chris Jennewein

San Diego Mesa College announced Monday it has received more than $100,000 in donations to its Resiliency Fund campaign since its launch last September.

The Resiliency Fund will be used to support students in need of financial assistance to help them avoid dropping out of college.

An average of $1,000 per day in donations, totaling $101,376 as of Monday, tops any of Mesa College’s previous fundraising campaigns, according to school officials.

“In this season of giving, its truly amazing that donors have stepped up to support this fund,” said Mesa College President Pamela Luster. “This will really help our students meet their basic needs so that they can focus on homework instead of hunger or housing.”

The Hope Lab and California Community Colleges’ March 2019 #RealCollege survey found that about half of Mesa College students deal with food insecurity and 18% don’t have permanent housing.

Students from Mesa College and the rest of the San Diego Community College District also had a $4.3 billion economic impact during the 2018-2019 fiscal year, according to a study by the labor analytics firm Emsi.

Donations to the Resiliency Fund can be made at sdmesa.edu/ResiliencyFund. The college aims to raise $250,000 to help more than 1,000 students stay in college and complete their education.

— City News Service