Sierra College Foundation supporting students during transitional times

As Sierra College students returned from spring break last week to 100% online learning, the Rocklin community college was faced with a number of new challenges. College students have been a group hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Sierra College students have had a significant decrease in hours at jobs or have lost jobs outright, says Sonbol Aliabadi, the executive director of the Sierra College Foundation. Other students have had difficulty transitioning to online learning, Aliabadi says, because they may not have access to wifi connections outside the campus. In other cases, the laptop or desktop computer supply may not meet the household demands for some students living with large families or roommates who need to work remotely. "That in itself started a series of questions and panic and anxiety for many, many reasons," Aliabadi said. "All of those issues raised created an environment of, 'How do we help them?' " The Sierra College Foundation was granted direct emergency funds intended for students in need of food, groceries and tech support through various donors. "It's designed to help them either with gift cards, food or access to resources," said Sierra College Public Information Officer Josh Morgan. "This way, we can try to allow them to be able to focus on continuing to move their education forward." Every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., the Sierra College Foundation offers on-campus pickups of donations from local food banks and grocery store gift cards. Liaisons are available for student feedback on any other challenges they may be faced with during stay-at-home guidelines. "If we're able to offer students what they need, every little bit counts to help them concentrate on their school work," Aliabadi said. "Some of them have never taken a class online, and that's added stress. We want to help relieve some of that stress by offering financial assistance." If you are a Sierra College student in need of food, technological or financial assistance, please email foundation@sierracollege.edu. Interested donors can visit sierracollege.edu/give.