Loreal Dolar was about to enter her first year of college when life took a drastic turn.
She was on vacation with her family in Hawaii when her mother died in a snorkeling accident. She didn’t know where to turn.
Dolar found a way to cope with her loss: forming Gator Students of Ailing Mothers and Fathers.
“I know I’m not the only person going through this,” she said.
The UF chapter of the National Students of AMF Support Network helps students grieving the illness or loss of a loved one. The group’s first meeting is Thursday in the Reitz Union, Rooms 278 and 279 at 7:30 p.m..
The chapter will have peer-led, open-discussion groups.
Lauren Levy, the support group coordinator for the chapter, met Dolar at a grief support group in the fall of 2009 after losing her father to cancer in May.
“I want this peer-to-peer group to be a place where students can feel free to be vulnerable and say, ‘Let’s not have an agenda this week. This is what’s on my heart, and what I’m wrestling with. What do you all think? ’” Levy said.
For information, students can visit “Gator Students of AMF” on Facebook.
