the child of Sino-Vietnamese war refugees who sends some of their $48,000 annual stipend

[GoodTaste]

For Michelle Gu, attending graduate school at Columbia University feels like being caught between “two incredibly different worlds.” The neuroscience Ph.D. student, who requested to go by a pseudonym, is surrounded by classmates whose parents can help them out financially while they attend graduate school in pricey New York City. Meanwhile, “ focus a lot of my time figuring out how to make ends meet,” says Gu, the child of Sino-Vietnamese war refugees who sends some of their $48,000 annual stipend to people they care about in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they grew up.

Source: Science In academia, lower socioeconomic status hinders sense of belonging

I am wondering the subject of the verb "sends", the child or the refugees? If the later, shouldn't it be "send"？ If the former, it is odd that she tries to make ends meet while giving so much money to others.

 

[5jj]

It's 'the child'; the writer has used the gender-free pronoun 'they'. It is because she gives to others that she struggles to make ends meet.

 

[GoodTaste]

It's 'the child'; the writer has used the gender-free pronoun 'they'. It is because she gives to others that she struggles to make ends meet.

So her generosity leads to her struggle financially?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes. Or at least it doesn't help her personal financial situation if she's giving money away.