Posted in the Oakland Tribune
Friday, May 23, 2003
Written by Oakland Tribune Staff

Oakland - Ten years in a refugee camp in India. Five years in East Bay homeless shelters. All seven of the East Bay College Fund scholars have inspiring stories of challenges and resilience. The experiences of Tsering Dorjee and Katie Jay are remarkable, even among this group.

“I was nervous,” Jay said about speaking before the audience at the scholarship awards ceremony at Mills College’s Carnegie Building. She didn’t seem nervous as she recounted what you can only call an incredible journey. She attended 32 schools, lived in 20 homeless shelters, is graduating from Castlemont High with a 3-point GPA and is heading off to San Jose State University, determined to be a medical doctor.

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Posted in the San Francisco Chronicle
Meredith May
Friday, May 9, 2003

Later this month, seven high school seniors from Oakland will each meet their guardian angel — a stranger who has decided to give them $16,000 apiece for college.

In the inaugural year of the East Bay College Fund, founder Andy Fremder of Piedmont has collected a group of folks who have money to spare and want to give it to smart youngsters who struggle against the pressures of poverty to maintain a B average in class.

The donors are matched with a student, and agree to give that student $4,000 a year for expenses at a four-year university. The students promise to check in twice a year with their donors to let them know how they are doing in college.

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