BVU Student Emergency Fund Arises to Offer Aid During Pandemic
The fund, made possible by the generosity of benefactors, allows BVU students to request up to $500 for assistance to help cover a variety of needs.
Several Buena Vista University students, in need due to factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, have found assistance through BVU’s new Student Emergency Fund, which benefactors established in April.
The fund, which currently has $25,000 thanks to generous gifts from BVU alumni and friends, allows BVU graduate students, online and hybrid students, and undergraduate students from the main campus, to request up to $500 for assistance to help cover a variety of needs, ranging from food costs to transportation to internet access and more.
“We have a great capacity to help students who are in need because of what’s happened across the country and across the world during the pandemic,” says Mike Walker, BVU Senior Director of Retention and Student Support.
The coronavirus pandemic, which closed the BVU campus and transitioned all classes to online learning for the balance of the semester, has adversely affected the job market for students, among others. And while an exciting fund within BVU’s Student Success aided some students as they secured transportation away from campus, the Student Emergency Fund came about as leaders on campus readied for student needs that would arise as the pandemic continued.
“There are students who are dealing with job losses, and there are students whose parents may also have suffered job losses,” Walker says. “The Student Emergency Fund is up and running to assist those students who have been impacted in any way.”
Walker says the goal is to aid students quickly to allow everyone to remain safe, healthy, and in a position to complete coursework without interruption. Already, 25 BVU students have been approved for assistance totaling in excess of $12,000.
“We will seek some very basic documentation along with your request, but there are few limitations to receiving funds,” Walker says. “The Student Emergency Fund cannot address tuition or room-and-board costs as such assistance would then impact financial aid. The Student Emergency Fund can be used for so many other costs. Students simply need to ask us, and we’ll get their questions answered while doing all we can to get them assistance with any daily needs they may have.”
For information about the BVU Student Emergency Fund, call 712.749.1240, email walkerm2@bvu.edu, or see bvu.edu/university-resources.