DAVENPORT, Iowa — Local nonprofits are getting some relief after almost one million dollars was donated to the Quad Cities Community Foundation's Disaster Recovery Fund.
The Safer Foundation usually hosts class at the JB Young Opportunity Center. The Youth Empowerment Program helps students get their high school equivalency diplomas, or GEDs.
"I really want to get my GED, so I can start working and just start my own life and do better for myself," Safer Foundation student Ashley Tucker said.
"When I heard about this program, I was really excited," Safer Foundation student Asia Winslow said.
With Iowa schools closed to in person classes due to COVID-19, the foundation had to find another option for students.
"I was really sad that to think that we weren`t going to be able too continue until they re-opened," Safer Foundation student Eileen Lyons said.
Safer Foundation was on of almost 40 local organizations to. receive help from The Quad Cities Community Foundation's Disaster Recovery Fund. They purchased 15 chrome books and hot spots for students to take home and use to access virtual class.
"I am so grateful," Winslow said. "This is probably one of the best experiences that I am going to have."
"We wanted to make sure that we got a chrome book and a hot spot in every student's hands," Safer Foundation Director Sue Davison said. "It was the only way that we would have been able to continue."
"I was very happy to be able to get the computers and the hotspots to continue," Lyons said.
The Youth Empowerment Program is a 6 week long program, where at the end of the program, students can take their placement tests or their GED test. But, due to COVID-19, the state is not offering the test right now.
"We were very grateful too have been able to continue class," Davison said.
It is unknown if the students will get to take their GED tests on schedule.
"It is a great program," Winslow said.
The foundation does not know when classes can continue in person again, but Davison says they are happy to continue online, something they could not have done without the money raised.