Thank you to Bryn, a current Seattle Milk Fund student who graciously accepted an invitation to speak to our guests at our Seattle Milk FUNd event in April. Here is the speech she shared with the audience.
It is such a pleasure to be here tonight to share my educational journey with you.
As a fair warning – this speech might involve some tears, but don’t worry, they are tears of honor and joy as I reflect upon some of the lowest and most terrifying moments of my life and realize how far I have come. They are tears of appreciation as I realize that I would not be where I am today without the support from people like you, and programs like the Seattle Milk Fund. Read more.
As we move into the holidays and CookieFest, we wanted to highlight a previous Seattle Milk Fund recipient. Ciana is a recent graduate of South Seattle College’s Pastry and Baking Arts Program. After graduation she began working as a production baker at Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Workshop, one of Seattle’s most highly-regarded bakeries. Way to go Ciana!
“I could not begin to express the gratitude that I have for the Seattle Milk Fund and their mission. My family and I look forward to interacting with this organization as the years progress and as such are dedicated to being aligned with the mission. We also look forward to volunteering for this organization in the future and hopefully, with some success in education, yearn to provide our own economic dividends in the future such that we may help another family like ourselves.” – Christopher, UW Bothell student
“I feel incredibly fortunate to be where I am now. After finishing high school, I spent 9 years working as a union carpenter. It was a pretty good job, and the money was good enough that it was hard to quit. I was laid off around 3 ½ years ago, and I started school mostly for something to do while I waited for business to pick up. Of course I was hoping that it would work out, but I didn’t see how we could get by without my income. Amazingly, it has all worked out, even with 2 little kids. The Seattle Milk Fund and the UW childcare assistance subsidy have paid a majority of our childcare costs. Now I’m less than two weeks away from a degree and a new career as a software engineer (and a big pay raise!). I don’t know how to thank you guys enough!”
On a windy evening in the summer of 1992, Zuhra, along with her mother, six sisters, and brother, fled their home in Kabul City, Afghanistan. The civil war had caused them to leave abruptly and find safety in a province north of Afghanistan. What she and her family thought would be a couple of months of refuge, turned into decades of living as refugees and immigrants in different cities across the globe.
