We spent much of Tuesday trying to figure out how to raise more than $8,000 to get Folasade, one of the best students at Bishop Gibbons High School, the money she needs to pay the college’s boarding fees she badly wants to attend the Fall.

She and her family are from Nigeria and the Caribbean; Folasade is a top refugee student who has worked hard to get a scholarship to Siena College, three hours away.

She has a scholarship to the school, but her mother can’t afford the room, food, and other costs to live in a dorm. The college is more than three hours away by bus, which is how she would have to get there.

She doesn’t have a car; she couldn’t commute that distance daily. And she wants to live on her college campus. And she should.

Folasade wants to be a doctor; from what the teachers have seen of her, that will likely happen. Sue Silverstein says Folasade feels like one of her children; Sue has been helping her for some years, and the Army of Good has paid her tuition at Bishop Maginn and Bishop Gibbons.

I want to do anything I can to help this very worthy child.

We found a generous donor – Kathleen – who has offered to pay half of Folasade’s boarding costs. The donation can’t be tax-deductible, we discovered. Kathleen wants to help her anyway.

I’ve taken responsibility for raising the rest of the money Fosalade needs; we will also continue the search for donors. Other people outside of the blog may also choose to help.

This is an opportunity to show the refugee community what real America is all about, not the horrifying one we and they see on the news.

I think – and Folasade and Sue Silverstein agree –  that the best avenue for helping Folasade is for her to launch a GoFundMe campaign which the blog will support every day until she gets the money she needs. That will get the money directly into the right hands.

If people are uncomfortable using a crowd-sourcing fund, they can donate to me, and I will forward it to her—details to come.

We estimate the new goal will be $4,500; I hope it goes higher since she will need clothes, toiletries, and other necessities in college.

That amount and the generous donation will ensure her a room at the school. She will also be working all summer to raise money for college. We will be speaking with other donors also. I am very focused on making this happen.

It will take a day or so for her to set up the Go Fund Me project – people are helping her tomorrow –  and I will announce it as soon as it is up. This profoundly gifted, brave, and kind refugee student is serious about becoming a doctor to help people heal. The people who know her know she will make it.

I want to do everything possible to get her college room. So is Sue Silverstein.

We’ve tried everything, but there is no way to make this a tax-deductible issue for donors or contributors. It can only come from the heart.

So please stay tuned, I’m going to see Folasade on Friday, and I should be able to announce the GoFundMe project soon, maybe as early as tomorrow night.

We have until the end of August to raise the money.

I know we can make this happen.

We’ve supported GoFundMe projects before, and everyone was successful.