Funding sources for film equipment?

Hey everybody, I'm new to this sub. I've been lurking for a few months and found some pretty interesting stuff here thus far. It's my dream to be a film director one day and I'm working on making that dream a reality a little more everyday. I have some scripts made for some short films and skits I want to produce however being a college student and working full time leave me with few options to pursue this endeavor. To get straight to the point, I was wondering if there are viable alternative funding sources for equipment/ production costs? I'm talking about in the $500- $5000 range. Some lights , one or two cameras, a tripod, some high quality mics, and location costs. Any answers are appreciated , thank you. via /r/videoproduction https://www.reddit.com/r/videoproduction/comments/55w3nv/funding_sources_for_film_equipment/?utm_source=ifttt