By CASSIE SLANA
Reporter

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Mario Morris received a life-changing phone call from his brother on Jan. 26.

Morris, a student worker in the UCM Military and Veterans Success Center, said his brother was calling him to tell him that his uncle was seriously ill and might not make it much longer.

“When I got off the phone, I was a little hysterical,” Morris said. “I kept thinking, ‘This can’t be happening.’”

After Morris got off the phone with his brother, his mother called and confirmed that he needed to fly to Alabama to be with his family.

Morris said the trip was a financial burden, but that he got on the first flight to Alabama to support his family. Shortly after he arrived, Morris said his family had to make the decision to take his uncle off life support.

Morris said after that, his mind was racing with new problems. That’s when he decided to reach out to Delilah Nichols, coordinator of MVSC, for guidance about finances.

“He reached out to me, and through my work with joining community forces, I was able to assist him in that regard,” Nichols said. “I was able to access the network for folks in getting contact with representatives in Alabama who were able to provide guidance to Mario on available funeral rites, potential funds to help with the burial, and we looked for ways in which to support him financially with the cost of a plane ticket.”

Stephen Kirkbride, one of Morris’s coworkers at the MVSC, said that when he came into work and found out about what was going on with Morris, he decided to donate $40.

“(Mario’s) one of those people that’ll never expect you to help him out,” Kirkbride said.

James Watson, founder of Student Military Combat Systems, said his organization also helped Morris out with funding.

Watson said his organization gave most of their discretionary funds from a previous fundraiser to Morris.

“We supported him in his need,” Watson said. “As military personnel, we treat each other as brothers, no matter what branch you’re in, no matter what year you joined. If it was 1986 or 2015; once you join the military, you become a member of the Department of Defense and we all become family. We are all family and it didn’t hurt to help.”

Nichols said MVSC gave $88, various other student veterans gave $60, and the Student Military Combat Systems group gave $144. In total, the groups were able to almost cover the entire cost of Morris’s trip one way.

“(Morris) is a wonderful individual and he stepped up to the plate for his family,” Nichols said. “(He had to) step away from his studies and go into that mode of being the caregiver and the supporter, and those are very tough issues. Any time there’s one of our own who’s in need, you want to reach out to support them the best that you can.”

Morris said he didn’t know about the collection at the time, but that he was touched when he found out.

“If any of my fellow veterans’ family members had a situation like this, now I know what to do to help them get through it,” Morris said. “It was a very emotional gift.”