Nonprofit, food truck to hold 'Pupusathon' to raise scholarship money for undocumented immigrants

From March 20 to April 20, local nonprofit Pupusas for Education and food truck So Good Pupusas are asking student organizations on campus to get involved in their Pupusathon.

The Pupusathon is a fundraiser to raise money for last-dollar scholarships for undocumented immigrants.

“Last-dollar scholarships are the last $1,000 or $2,000 that undocumented students would need to attend a school every year,” Steve Palacios, director of development for Pupusas for Education, said.

“Our scholarship is renewable, so our scholars receive $1,000 a year and it’s renewable for four years.”

Cecilia Polanco, founder of Pupusas for Education, said the issue for undocumented students is they do not qualify for a lot of financial aid.

“The idea behind the Pupusathon is to generate money to be able to provide scholarships to undocumented students,” Polanco said.

Although the main focus of the Pupusathon is raising funds for scholarships, Jazlin Laboy, scholarship director for Pupusas for Education, said they hope the Pupusathon will promote education equity as well as cultural diversity.

“We’re not just a scholarship,” Laboy said.

“We try to mentor our recipients. Our recipients are getting much more than just money. It is mentorship and it is resources. We’re plugging them to people they can connect with.”

This is the first year Pupusas for Education is asking for student organization involvement in the Pupusathon.

“In the past, student groups on campus have often come to me and asked how they can help contribute,” Polanco said.

“Previously, I have only been able to tell them they could book us for catering. But now that we have a non-profit in Pupusas for Education, we can start looking at what student partnerships can look like and how they can help us fundraise.”

Pupusas for Education has contacted organizations that align with their mission. They hope this will build more of a community around undocumented students and show the scholarship recipients that there is a group of people who want to see them succeed, Palacios said.

“We know that in our first year there will probably be little involvement, and then it can grow in the years as we get bigger with our fundraising efforts too,” Polanco said.

In addition to groups on campus, the Pupusathon also looks to reach out to a larger crowd.

“This scholarship is something we are trying to include the community in,” Laboy said.

“We hope to shed light on the fact that it’s not as easy of a road as some people think and also shed light on immigration policy and undocumented students.”

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