SFS-Qatar Student Club Holds a First-of-its-Kind Breast Cancer Fundraiser

A sea of pink swept the Education City Student Center on Sunday (October 16), as Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar)’ student group, Women’s Society and Development Club held a first-of-its-kind breast cancer fundraiser. In honoring those who have died, survived or are fighting breast cancer, the pink-themed event marked the first such instance where a student organization in Education City planned and organized an entire event for breast cancer involving students from all campuses. The four-hour-long event saw students raising more than QR15,000 through sales of student-prepared baked good and pieces from local designers. All the sales from the fundraiser were donated directly to the Qatar National Cancer Society, a representative from whom was present throughout to supervise the coupons sold for transactions on items on sale.

As proceedings began, most of the cupcakes, baked goods and designer-wear were quickly snapped up by enthusiastic visitors. “Cupcakes by Jawhara Al Thani, a member of Women’s Society and Development, were a huge success and were the first to be completely sold out. We have been overwhelmed by all the positive reviews by scores of attendees who said that we should have had the event for two days. Others said we need to increase the frequency of the event,” said (Zarqa Parvez), President of SFS-Qatar’s Women’s Society and Development Club. Various local designers such as Impressions, Kharaweesh, WAAD designs and Zaabara Abayas sold selected pieces from their collections, and expressed profound interest in making the event a success. Instrumental in collaboration with designer labels and other participating organizations were key members of the Women’s Society and Development Club: Noora Al Thani, Aisha Al Sultan, Bushra and Maryam Al Saada. “Everyone who attended the event praised its organization and the great cause it supported. We were pleased with the amount of support shown by friends, the different organizations that participated and SFS-Qatar’s Wellness and Counseling staff,” said Ghada Al-Subaey (Co-President of the Club)

“Repeatedly, we were told that Education City needs more of these events that engaged all campuses and encourage them to get involved in activities outside academics. This was a prime example of the sort of events that students in Education City should strive for,” added Ghada.The Women’s Society and Development has a number of events planned for the future, ranging from discussions and talks with inspirational women to awareness campaigns and fun gatherings. 

“Like the breast cancer fundraiser, we hope that people continue to come to our events and help us in our goal to ‘Inspire, Dream and Achieve’,” said Zarqa.