People’s Fund hosts mutual aid market in Scripps Student Union

On Oct. 5, the People’s Fund hosted a mutual aid market to raise and redistribute funds to the urgent needs of Sudan, Gaza and Eastern Congo. The event, held in the Scripps Student Union, raised $2,470 for redistribution. 20 vendors were present to sell their pastries, posters, jewelry, haircuts and more.

A group of students and community members created the People’s Fund in June 2024, aiming to expand solidarity efforts to include material support for communities facing genocide in Palestine, Congo and Sudan. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Zionist entity has martyred over 186,000 Palestinians living in Gaza and 2000+ in Southern Lebanon and Beirut as of Sept. 2024.

In an Instagram post, the People’s Fund shared that they have also distributed financial support to a Sudanese mutual aid collective, a Congolese mutual aid collective and a SWANA organizer working on redistributing funds to displaced Palestinians in Cairo.

The People’s Fund has emphasized that considerable wealth is concentrated within the Claremont Colleges, and with that abundance comes a key opportunity to contribute to urgent causes.

“We know that redistributing funds to survival needs like housing, evacuation, food, transportation, medical expenses, etc., is what is being requested of us by our comrades globally because of our access to immense wealth stolen through settler colonialism and capitalism,” a student organizer told Undercurrents.

The market was the first of its kind for the People’s Fund, as redistribution had previously occurred digitally. The People’s Fund also created an ongoing monthly subscription, which has raised $2,251 as of July 27.

“Based on the success of this first fundraising event… we are planning to hold similar future events. We are continuing to have conversations about how to redistribute the vast amount of money that we have access to at these schools to comrades on the ground meeting survival needs of people in Palestine, Sudan, and Congo,” the student organizer said. 

Originally, the market was meant to take place in the Motley, the Scripps student-run coffeehouse and common space for events and meetings organized by 5C students. However, the mutual aid market was forced to change location last minute when Scripps administration shut the Motley down earlier that day in reaction to workers hanging up a Palestinian flag in Sept.. Scripps administration gave no prior warning to the workers or any students hosting events inside the space. The Motley is closed as of the writing of this article, despite ongoing efforts to reopen it and protect the free speech rights of the student body.

The People’s Fund remains committed to their current and future initiatives.