College of DuPage (COD) students are preparing for this year’s Fall Bazaar to raise funds for Gaza and will collaborate with several campus clubs for a shared cause. The bazaar will be on Oct. 29, hosted by the UNICEF club.
What began as a small idea during a UNICEF club meeting in 2024 has grown into a full-blown fundraiser event. The event evolved into a bazaar, a market or street of shops that are a familiar sight in Middle Eastern countries, after club officers saw an opportunity to collaborate with other student organizations and transform it into a multicultural event.
“We wanted the event to foster a sense of connection, community and celebration,” Anam Sultana, president of the COD UNICEF club, said. “While also working on important causes like fundraising for countries going through crisis.”
The event now includes over five clubs participating, including the Muslim Student Association, United Filipino Club, Arab Association and other clubs on campus. Sultana said all the clubs collaborated to organize the bazaar.
“The Fall Bazaar was designed to be a collaborative club event, so we don’t have a ‘main organization or club’ but rather several clubs having different roles and keeping track of their tasks,” Sultana said. “Everyone has a role to play, and we are all basically branches that form ‘one tree,’ which is the Fall Bazaar event.”
Students attending the bazaar can expect food vendors, small business booths, games and a live performance featuring Palestinian-inspired music. Organizers are also in talks of including an informational area where attendees can learn more about Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. Rima Shah, chair of the bazaar committee, said she is excited for people to experience the bazaar.
“I think it’s not about what they experience but being able to build that community and to see all these people come together for a cause that is beyond us,” Shah said.
The decision to focus this year’s fundraiser on Gaza came after the club members discussed where their support was most needed. According to UNICEF USA, 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced. This has led to overcrowded shelters where there are severe shortages in food, water and medical supplies.
“It’s been over 700 days since the genocide in Gaza,” Sultana said.”The situation is very critical because of the famine. There is a spike in children’s and infant deaths.”
Sultana said UNICEF’s current priority is to avert malnutrition and prevent the spread of famine. The proceeds of the event will be donated to the UNICEF organization in Gaza to provide various items such as nutrition supplies, tents, polio vaccines and other sanitation supplies. For those who can’t attend, students can still support the cause through UNICEF’s online donation page.
“I think that we have to come together in unity and look past those differences because real people are being hurt,” Shah said. “I’m hoping that students are able to come in and experience this community and walk away knowing a little bit more and having more sympathy.”
The Fall Bazaar will take place on Oct. 29 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the COD main campus. The event aims to bring students, clubs and community members together to support children and families in Gaza, and may return in the spring as part of a growing seasonal tradition.
“I’m hoping that we’re also able to set up a bazaar for the spring with another country in need,” Shah said. “I just want to be able to continue building this kind of supportive community through these events.”
