GoFundMe Campaign Raises Tuition Fees for Bayside Student

An online campaign dedicated to raising money for a Bayside woman to pay her tuition and fees for school has, so far, raised $200.

Bayside's Skylar Ivey-Santo created a GoFundMe page titled "Help an Honor's Student Stay in School," with the goal of raising a total $5,000. So far, three people have donated to the fund.

The page reads:

My classes start in just a few weeks. Tuition and fees for the full academic year 2013-2014 is $34,020. So far, thanks to much hard work on my part and the part of the amazing financial aid counselors at LIU I have been working with, I have come up with $25,000.00. I'm $9,000 short for the whole year. 

It is my dream to go to this school. I never thought I could get into LIU, but now that I have and have seen how supportive everyone is there, I can't give it up. I need help. I've been accepted into their English Program and have also been enrolled in their Honors Program. 

I have gone to schools within the City University of New York system and I have hated it. They have done nothing but stress me out and ultimately injure me. I am waiting to be scheduled for surgery to repair a torn meniscus tendon in my right knee because they don't take care of their grounds and I stepped onto uneven ground right after I graduated with my Associates of the Arts Degree. Above is a picture my brother took while I was being checked by a paramedic.

I am disabled and have not been able to work since 2010. I have slowly been losing dexterity in different parts of my body, but the only thing I can still do well is write stories. I have written three novels and am in the process of writing the fourth in the series now. I am hoping by continuing my education, it will help me get my work out there and I can one day get off of disability.

I know this is a lot of money, which is why I am going to break this up into two separate goFundme accounts. One will be for the half that is due in the next few weeks and I will worry about the other half when it is due later on. I will be making each half for $8,000 to help me with my textbooks, but I hope people will help me reach my dream. 

I am offering stories as rewards for donating to my tuition fund. After you have donated, if you have donated one of the reward level amounts, please email me your email address and I will email you a story as soon as possible.