Thank you! Together with more than 1,000 others, your gift to the Unexpected Hardship Fund helped ensure students had the support they immediately needed during the beginning of this crisis.  

Here are just a few examples of how your donation benefited Tufts students so far: 

250: plane/bus/train tickets purchased to get students home safely  

150: storage units rented  

20: laptops purchased to support students’ remote learning 

20: noise-canceling headphones bought to provide for a better learning environment 

Countless: Phone calls, texts and Zoom check-ins with hundreds of Jumbos 

While this specific project is closed, the needs of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering students continue as the COVID-19 pandemic affects more families. You can support this fund and other immediate student needs here.

Thank you. Your support demonstrates something we have always known: the Tufts community is a family and remains committed to taking care of each other. 

It has been only 23 days since Tufts moved classes online to slow the spread of COVID-19.      

In the past three weeks, our community has rallied around the unexpected needs this pandemic has created for Tufts students. So far, more than 1,000 students, alumni, parents, and friends have supported the Unexpected Hardship Fund. You have helped surpass the initial goal of $100,000 in funding. Thank you!       

Over 200 students, with more each day, have received hardship aid. Here’s an update both on how your gifts, along with additional university resources, have been used and our anticipated student needs moving forward:     

·        Over $45,000 was spent to ensure that every student who needed help getting home—tickets, rides, gas—received that financial support.       

·        The staff at the FIRST Resource Center and three student volunteers offered individual support for everything from purchasing tickets to storing belongings.       

·        These funds provided stipends to help offset the loss of campus job income.   

·        The FIRST Resource Center distributed laptops to students without access to computers at home.     

·        Hardship aid ensured that students have a physical space at home conducive to learning by supporting access to WIFI, routers, and noise canceling headphones.  

·        Covering medical needs will be important as students on Tufts insurance may face higher co-pays and expenses away from campus.    

·        We anticipate summer needs for students who continue to be unable to go home.     

Students are giving what they have to support each other. Parents are giving to help their children’s friends and classmates. Alumni are giving to support fellow Jumbos. Staff, faculty, and friends are giving because they care about Tufts students.      

The need continues to evolve as the crisis affects more families. We are doing our best to reply to requests and offer support with the funds we have available. We will continue to keep you updated.     

These are unprecedented times. It is heartening to see what we always have known to be true: The Tufts community is a family and committed to taking care of each other. Jumbo Thanks.   Thanks.

The Tufts community has come together in incredible ways.

With the support of alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff and friends, The FIRST Center has been able to buy last minute airline tickets for every student who needs to leave campus - truly incredible.

The next wave of need will come when students return home and face loss of campus job income, the cost of medical insurance, remote learning internet needs, and food insecurity. We don’t know the full extent of need to follow, but we know it will exceed $100,000 in the coming months. We’re raising our goal so that the Unexpected Hardship Fund will continue to provide for our students as this pandemic brings new emergency needs.

The Tufts family shows up for each other, and we take care of each other. Thank you for your generosity!