The Public Interest Law Fund (PILF) is a student-run organization at UCI Law that provides financial support to students who do summer work at non-profit legal organizations. Students in these positions provide services to low-income, marginalized communities. At a time where COVID-19 is disproportionately compounding the needs of these communities, it is more important than ever that we facilitate this work by helping students with their financial burden of working for free to help others. For each student who receives aid from PILF, several members of our community gain access to needed services.
We hope that you can contribute to providing public interest services through UCI Law students by giving to PILF’s Friends and Family Campaign!
The Goal: To make a positive impact on our communities by enabling students to work at non-profit, public interest organizations that provide low-cost or free legal aid to the people and causes that need it most.
The Reason: Public interest organizations are typically underfunded and thus rely on volunteers, including UCI Law students. However, these students still have bills and other living expenses to pay with limited or no scholarship or student loans available. PILF Stipends enable students to take volunteer positions to help others without having to worry about how they will make their next rent payment.
“Because of this pandemic, like a lot of people, my parents’ small business suffered. Because of the PILF stipend, I’ve been able to pay my rent without needing extra loans, which has really saved my family so much. If it weren’t for PILF, I would have had to look for another job.”
“My parents are above the age of 70, so they are at high risk of COVID infection. The funding I received from PILF allowed me to buy groceries for my family and take care of some of our expenses while stile working in public interest so they could allocate their savings towards their medical bills.”
“Without the funding, I would not have been able to focus my time on my internship. Furthermore, due to the high cost of living in Orange County and limited federal student loan funding, along with uncertainty about COVID and worries about finding part-time work, the stipend provided a safety net and peace of mind this last summer”
The Results: The UCI Law Community has contributed over $560,000 toward stipends.
The Work: With the help of PILF stipends this past summer, UCI Law students have done great work, including but not limited to:
“There is absolutely no world in which I would have worked for these organizations if PILF had not been able to provide funding. Being a legal intern was stressful enough; if I’d had to worry about how to pay my rent and buy my groceries as well, I don’t know how I would have handled this summer.”
Margaret Hinson (’22); Standpoint MN, Advocates for Human Rights
“This PILF stipend helped to solidify my choice to pursue environmental law. It allowed me to explore the government side of environmental law and made me realize I enjoy it enough to pursue it as a career”
Michael Damasco (’21); Attorney General’s Office in Sacramento
Thank you from all of us at UCI Law!
*Business matching donation pledges TBA*
By giving $5, you could help a student pay for a coffee to have during a Zoom session with their mentor.
By giving $20, you could help a student purchase office supplies such as pens, highlighters, legal pads, sticky notes and tabs, etc.
By giving $30, you could help a student with a week's worth of groceries.
By giving $125, you could help a student cover gas, electric, phone, and internet payments for a month.
By giving $275, you could help a student cover gas for a month of commuting between Irvine and Santa Ana.
By giving $550, you could help a student relocate outside of Orange County for the summer.
By giving $1,100, you could help a student cover one month's rent in Southern California.