For students who do not have parental or family support -- they have aged out of foster care, or they are declared emancipated by the courts, or they are independent and homeless -- they have greater needs. They don't have someone to call when they need a new pair of shoes, or extra money for food, or a jacket for the cold weather. And these kind of necessities are not covered by their financial aid.

That's where we come in! We are a group of families that want to help support these students. We work with the University of Colorado, Boulder and support students in their Guardian Scholars Program.

We do this through several programs:

Care Packages - We try to send them care packages at least 3 times a semester -- at the start of the semester, for midterms and for finals. We also send them a box for their birthday, and graduation gifts. We include letters of encouragement and birthday cards written by you.
We put money on their Flatiron Cards. This not only meets their food needs but allows them to socialize with friends and go out to local restaurants. We also provide them with Campus Cash cards so they can use the cafeteria in between classes. And we give them gift cards to local grocery stores.
We address other needs they have throughout the year which could include computer needs, driving lessons, etc.
And if they are moving into a dorm or apartment for the first time, we help them with necessities.

These are some of the comments we have received from the students:

“I keep the letters with me and reread them when I’m having a tough day.”

"When I was a freshman, my roommate got Care Packages from her Mom. I never thought that someday I would be getting them too. Thank you!”

"This is such a relief. I was stressing about how to make my meals stretch this week."

"Because of you, I completed my driving lessons and I have a license now. Thank you!"

“A bag of chips may not be a big deal to you. But when I’m studying and I take a bag of chips from my Care Package and I think that someone cared enough to send this to me, a bag of chips is a big deal to me.”

Nationally, only 3% of kids who age out of foster care without being adopted will ever earn a college degree over the course of their lifetime. This year we will have 6 graduates!

Your support is incredibly meaningful to these students!

CU Families helping Guardian Scholars