Friends will throw you a retirement party. Real friends will throw you the party – and then help pay for your retirement. Tonga Phan-McGill, a Language Lab Assistant, found that out recently. She was forced into early retirement due to the budget cuts, after working at Cuesta for more than 20 years.
Since most of her years were on hourly employment, Tonga needed extra cash to participate in the state retirement program. Co-workers and colleagues campus-wide quickly went to work, and raised more than $3,000 for Tonga – which was given at her farewell luncheon. “We all felt so badly and think so highly of Tonya, so we wanted to help,” said Bob Hartwig, Languages and Communications Division Chair. “It’s pretty terrific that so much was contributed by the staff.” We think so too.