By Jason Guo
Baha’i is a student club at Bellevue College centered around spirituality. On Feb. 26 and 27, the club members held a tabling event from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in front of the cafe to sell their homemade treats such as brownies and baked cookies in order to get donations to the Mona foundation and to get the college library some books that talk about Baha’i religion.
The Baha’i faith is a religion that teaches the essential worth of all religions, and the unity and equality of all people. The religion was established in 1863; it initially grew in Iran, Persia and other parts of the Middle East region.
At the event table in the C building lobby lounge, people could buy a homemade sugar cookie for one dollar, and a piece of brownie for two dollars. They could also use whipped cream provided by the club to write or draw on their cookies for another dollar. A member of the club, Madison Milojevich, said “It was a success yesterday. We sold about 16 cookies, and 23 brownies on February 26; and in total, we got around 58 dollars, which is more than what we expected. The goal was 50 dollars, but we got eight dollars more than that.” By 11:00 a.m. on Feb. 27, they had sold about five brownies, “We set the table in front of BC cafe; the cafeteria and vending machines are nearby. It is somewhat competitive to sell those treats since people could get them from somewhere else, but we are still doing very well, and I guess there would be more people coming and supporting us by buying our homemade cookies and brownies. Moreover, another member of the club is bringing more cookies and brownies here to sell, so hopefully they can all get sold out.”
Milojevich joined the club a few weeks ago and she talked about her experience with the Baha’i club. “Being a member of the club is very cool. I could feel the warmth, and it is like a big family, everyone is respected. When I joined the club, other members taught me things, and we became friends together. Moreover, it is good to be exposed to different religions.” She continued by adding that “We are selling things to get funds that would help spread knowledge about Baha’i since not so many people know this religion. We may use the money we got to buy some books related to Baha’i for the BC library since there are not many books about this religion. We talk with people, meet now people and let them know more about Baha’i while we are selling things, and we hope that more people could join us.”
Baha’i Club has weekly meetings on Fridays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in C103, and they often go to different churches to volunteer and learn something new almost every weekend. “We get prepared before going; we may discuss different cultural backgrounds, and we are going to a Japanese garden this weekend.” said Milojevich.