Not scholarships based on perfect grades.
Not awards based on impressive resumes.
Just help for families living one unexpected bill away from disaster.
A broken transmission.
A medical bill.
A rent increase.
A missed paycheck.
The exact kinds of things that nearly derailed us more than once.
She wanted to call it the Second Shift Fund.
I went completely quiet.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
“Do you hate the name?”
“No.”
My throat tightened.
“I love it.”
Jane launched the fund the following spring.
The first recipient was a nursing student named Melissa whose father worked overnight security at a warehouse.
Their electricity had been scheduled for disconnection two weeks before final exams.
The Second Shift Fund covered the bill and three months of rent.
Melissa graduated.
The next year, she donated fifty dollars back into the fund.
Then another former recipient donated twenty.
Then someone gave five hundred.
Then an alumnus gave ten thousand.
