By Emma Bracken

On the evening of Feb. 22 at Arsaga’s Mill District, Fayetteville Feeds Families collaborated with local artists to raise funds for Palestinian families in need of food, water and shelter during the event titled ‘For Gaza, With Love.’ 

Dozens of people from the community attended the event, supporting the artists and offering donations directly to the organization’s GoFundMe page. In total, the event raised around $3,000, which will be funneled directly into sending food to the families in the village that Fayetteville Feeds Families sponsors.

Founder of Fayetteville Feeds Families, Mariah Berquist, reached out to local musicians Luna J. Fenell, Cheanie Noai and Daughters of Madonna to perform throughout the night. Though they varied in mediums, ranging from viola to acoustic guitar to singing bowl, all of the musicians expressed themes of grief, justice, love and peace. Fennell began the event with viola solos, highlighting music written by anti-Zionist activists. As both a dedicated musician and social activist, Fennell intertwines the two often.

“I’m very much a learner in this world, and I’m always learning about music and social justice,” Fennell said. 

Through sharing her music at the event, Fennell hoped that people could work through the heavy emotions they are currently carrying, whether that is around the Palestinian genocide or anything else. 

“Music has such a healing quality,” Fennell said. “It’s really incredible to see how it can change people’s disposition and perspectives.”

Though the event was centered on helping families whose lives have been affected by the war in Gaza, the musicians were able to culminate a space for hope and solidarity. The event also had food and local art pieces for attendees to enjoy with a donation of any amount to Fayetteville Feeds Families. Berquist explained when she first started creating events through this organization and working with Friends of Palestine NWA , it could be emotionally heavy and hard for everyone to participate in. 

“When I bring people together I think it is really important to bring lightness and hope and joy and remind ourselves that we do have a sense of belonging and home,” Berquist said.

Berquist hopes that through crafting events such as For Gaza, With Love, people can become inspired to participate in the cause if Palestinian liberation while also maintaining hope for a brighter future. Singer-songwriter Cheanie Noai sang about grief being a garden, and explained that through processing the darkness around either personal or global tragedies, we can work toward an abundant, peaceful future.

“Even though our grief is somewhat of an individual experience, it is something where we need to find togetherness,” Noai said. 

Fennell also said they hoped through their music and participation in social events such as this one they can foster a sense of community support. It is through community strength in the form of time, money, and passion that real change can be enacted. 

“We are all in this together,” Fennell said. “No one is fighting the good fight alone; we struggle for collective liberation. I hope people come away with a sense of solidarity, reassurance, and hopefulness in their individual struggles as well as in their community and global struggles.”

Fayetteville Feeds Families began with Berquist’s personal connection to one Palestinian woman looking for ways to raise money to help her family flee from Gaza. Now, Berquist has been able to provide food to more than 100 Palestinian families. The key to being able to make and grow an impact is to find strength in numbers. Whether that is through donating, organizing events, attending protests, or even being conscious about the companies that you consume from, Berquist explained that every individual has power in the fight for Palestinian liberation.

“Supporting local business and local farmers and just really building each other up has a ripple effect through the world,” Berquist said. 

As far away from Palestine or any other global event that we may be, small individual acts of justice make waves that can help rewrite history as we live it. It is in these intimate, supportive spaces such as For Gaza, With Love that we can take these strides. Fennell explained that different forms of oppression are able to thrive because people feel helpless and as though they have no power to change their own situation or others. It is a goal of theirs and of Fayetteville Feeds Families to make people aware of their individual capacity for change as well as see the abundance of change that can come from working together.

“Being able to gather with other people who care about the same causes as you do is really powerful in building community and giving people confidence to do the right thing,” Fennell said, “because it is not always easy to do the right thing, but it is always right to do the right thing. It is easier when you have a community that you can get together with and kind of share that burden.”

Despite the emotional weight of addressing topics such as oppression, genocide, and colonialism, For Gaza, With Love was able to uplift and embolden the Fayetteville community and remind all of us that we are more capable of change and important to the world’s future than we often realize.