The atrium bustled with students as they browsed tables of fancy artwork and Arabic calligraphy, tried on colorful abayas and robes, and enjoyed boba tea and Mediterranean meals from vendors. They also played interactive games like beanbag toss and Connect Four, which were themed around trivia regarding recent natural disasters.
The event was hosted by the Muslim Student Association (MSA) for students to sell food and homemade items to raise donations for people who have been displaced and injured by recent high-magnitude earthquakes and flooding in Libya, Morocco and Afghanistan in September and October, as well as Turkey and Syria earlier this year.
Sophomore student Imani Hawkins, president of MSA, helped to plan the fundraising event that took place on Oct. 4. She described how it is to rally for these countries, where people are already suffering humanitarian crises due to politics, which leads to their struggles being sidelined.
“I also have family in Morocco and was extremely scared when I heard news of the earthquake recently. I can be thankful my family was safe, but many others lost their lives,” Hawkins said.
“We have a member of our team that is from Syria, and she recently visited home and explained how sad she was to see the state of her country,” she continued. “For her to see the reality of a failing economy, hear bombs from an ongoing war then return back to the College of DuPage as if nothing happened – that takes strength. MSA becomes the place where she can feel understood and heard without having her religion ignorantly attacked when her religion isn’t even to blame.”
Hawkins led the event planning with her team of 10 other MSA board members, as well as interns and volunteers. Business major Bilal Sudhir, the outreach officer for MSA, helped plan much of the event’s donation collection strategy.
“In times of catastrophe and disaster, we must reach out and help as Muslims and such organizations provide us with the resources to do so,” Sudhir said. “It is very important to collect donations for countries facing hardships, such as natural disasters or war, because they are our fellow brothers and sisters. They rely on the money received from the donations to get medical attention, food and shelter.”
Most vendors at the event gave at least half of their total earnings towards donations, and others paid a $50 dollar flat rate to buy their table and kept the revenue of their sales. The students of MSA said they were satisfied with the amount of donations raised and are still accepting more donations. They plan to give the funds to international non-profit donation groups, such as Doctors Without Borders and Islamic Relief, that can directly give these donations to earthquake and flood victims.
Other COD students also had the opportunity to speak at the event about how the earthquakes and flooding affected people they know, families and friends alike. There were humanitarian organizations present at the event too, such as ICNA Relief, which is a non-profit organization that has two active food pantries in the Chicagoland area and almost 100 other donation centers across America. Hawkins described how ICNA Relief provides basic necessities for community members and trains volunteers in responding to disasters.
“I have personally volunteered with ICNA Relief before, and the work they do is fantastic,” Hawkins described. “We once did a project with the American Red Cross in Chicago when a housing complex caught on fire, and we shared the services ICNA Relief offers. American Red Cross was happy to work with us just as much as we were with them.”
Benedictine University’s Care to Cure co-planned the event, as a club for medical students and doctors. They provided information about how the natural disasters led to medical crises in the affected countries.
To raise donation funds, the event hosted many local small businesses, with COD students themselves selling homemade products. These vendors included halal restaurants, clothing sellers, as well as Arabic calligraphy and henna artists.
“We are forever grateful for the local restaurants that sponsored and donated our event for the greater good,” Hawkins said. “If I haven’t said it a million times, I love our community! The way we help each other out when needed in more ways than one is beautiful. Many of our vendors sold out and for that, we are truly grateful.
One student vendor was Misbah Kaludi, a sophomore in the Design program who creates artwork in her small business, @painted_bymisbah on Instagram. She described how COD students were responsive to the event, even if they weren’t part of MSA or knew about the fundraising. Students approached the bazaar out of curiosity for small businesses that sold
“We’re privileged enough; we have the money and ability to donate. We’re so lucky to not be in their situation,” Kaludi said. “We should be thankful to Allah. Imagine being in their situation. You want to do whatever you can to help them. There’s only so much we can do, but every little thing counts.”
Kaludi spent many days planning and creating her products, such as calligraphy paintings, tote bags, tumbler cups, phone cases, pop sockets, magnets and homemade cake pops. She discussed how running a small business can be difficult to earn a profit after spending money on materials. Despite the difficulty for some small businesses to make sales in the pop-up vendor setting, they were still happy to donate to a good cause through their small business.
“I love that COD gives us a platform to be able to share it with other people,” Kaludi said. “There’s gonna be a Makers Market. I did it last year, and I made a lot of sales. So I’m looking forward to it next month. All small business owners can sell their stuff. I like that COD allows its students to express their creativity”
Alongside promoting small businesses, the event encouraged intercollege unity through working with Benedictine’s student club and volunteer organizations. Hawkins said many students were receptive to the event, even if they weren’t part of MSA or knew about the natural disaster fundraiser.
“The reaction of Muslim students finding their favorite local halal restaurants and shopping spots at our event was priceless,” Hawkins said. “The buzz on campus was really fun. We also got lots of excitement from non-Muslim students on campus, and it was so fun to watch them step into our world, try new food and have a fun first experience. After all, college is the time to try new things and learn about the world around us.”
The students also appreciated the opportunity for multicultural awareness, as they sold traditional clothing, art and food, as well as provided educational material about the countries affected by the natural disasters. Hawkins described how students find it important to educate their classmates about the countries their families are from and how they can work together to solve issues they’re facing.
“At every event, we display information of where Muslims come from, and we are ready to share a piece of ourselves with others,” Hawkins said. “Even our board members are diverse – Pakistani, Indian, Afro-American, Syrian and much more. It is honestly so fun to see the reactions of unsuspecting people when I tell them I’m an Afro-American Muslim and the president of our MSA. Contrary to popular belief, Muslims come from everywhere and live everywhere.”
Hawkins described the general goals of MSA to provide safe socializing spaces, prayer accommodations, host spiritual speakers, create networking opportunities and participate in service projects. They respond to a large number of Muslim students on campus and in the nearby DuPage communities, as Muslims make up 3% of the total Illinois population according to an Illinois General Assembly report from 2021.
“I truly think that is why there is often so much buzz about MSA because our intentions are pure, and we prioritize diversity,” Hawkins concluded. “We have an open door policy where no question is a silly question and genuinely just want to fight islamophobia, give students a safe space, and tell people who we are.”
The students invite others to participate in future donation or volunteer events with MSA. To learn more about the damage of earthquakes, flooding and other disasters, people may visit the International Rescue Committe website at rescue.org or donate to Doctors Without Borders and other world relief organizations.
