The horrific shootings that occurred earlier this month at two New Zealand mosques have left many Cabrini students heartbroken and outraged. This tragedy has been especially difficult for the Muslim community on campus since the violence was an act of extreme Islamophobia.
Members of MSA (Muslim Student Association) quickly scrambled to find ways to give back and support the victims and their families.
“When we first heard about the New Zealand attack, so many of our [club] members were really hurt by it and were feeling down,” Samar Dahleh, Muslim Student Association president, said. “A lot of us were feeling like we couldn’t really help. We all came up with different ideas of things we wanted to do and we eventually decided the bake sale was the best way because we could raise money quickly and then donate the funds.”
MSA began setting up their bake sale table in the lobby of Founder’s Hall on the morning of Wednesday, March 27. March 27 is also the holiday Muslim Women’s Day. At 2 p.m., when the bake sale came to a close, MSA had raised a total of $220. Due to the popularity of the table, they had successfully raised over 100 of those dollars after only an hour of being open.
Muslim Student Association will be giving the proceeds earned to a charity sponsored by Marie Claire magazine. Prior to this decision, the club had done much research to decide which charity they wanted to contribute to. The money raised by the charity will directly “help with the immediate, short-term needs of the grieving families,” according to the NZIIC (New Zealand Islam Information Center) website.
The bake sale table was stocked with sweets such as cupcakes, cookies and even fruit cups. The most popular item on the table was the fried Oreos which sold out almost immediately. If a student wanted to buy an item but did not have cash, the table also accepted digital payments through Venmo and Cashapp.
Since most of the items at the table were priced at only $1, many faculty and students kindly donated extra money for the cause.
“So many people just donated without buying anything and other people just told us to keep the change,” Dahleh said.
The success of MSA’s bake sale demonstrates that students have the power to make a difference and that kindness truly knows no borders. MSA is incredibly thankful to every person who supported their table and the cause.
