The Coachella Valley has just experienced an unprecedented storm! With the most significant rainfall over a 60-minute period in the history of the Valley, our students have experienced extreme flooding and significant damage to necessary resources, while others have no permanent housing at all. Not to mention the number of students already juggling multiple jobs who have yet to fully recover from the financial impact of the last three years.

COD counselors are already hearing from students in need of emergency assistance – for housing, transportation, utility and phone services, and other critical basics. With school starting in a week, our goal is to keep them enrolled. Because when their basic needs are not met, their educational goals become a lower priority and then we lose them. Many of these students are simply unable to return to college once they have dropped out.

Your donations can make the difference between students receiving a diploma or dropping out.

We are asking for you to step up again, as you did during the pandemic, to replenish our dwindling Student Emergency Fund so that we have the resources to help our students stay in school when they come to us for help.

Anything you can give will make a difference. You can donate online here or send a check to the COD Foundation. Please indicate your donation for the Student Emergency Fund and send it to:

College of the Desert Foundation
43500 Monterey Avenue
Palm Desert, CA 92260

You, too, can empower our COD Students to Spread Their Wings.

With gratitude,

Catherine Abbott
Executive Director