[photo credit: New Horizon School Pasadena]
The school’s Annual Ramadan Marketplace will bring 59 vendors to campus, offering modest fashion, halal food, handcrafted goods and wellness services. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.
“This year’s marketplace holds special significance,” the school announced, “as New Horizon School Pasadena is proud to uplift and support local vendors, including Pasadena and Altadena businesses impacted by recent fires.”
The timing is critical. Los Angeles County’s Small Business Relief Fund, which distributed $23.4 million after the fire, closed in December. Fewer than one-fifth of destroyed homes have rebuilding permits.
Despite its name, the marketplace occurs 10 days before Ramadan begins February 18, during Shaban, when Muslim families traditionally prepare by shopping for clothing and stocking ingredients for iftar meals.
New Horizon School has sustained fire relief efforts since the January blaze. When flames destroyed the local mosque, the school opened its campus for daily prayers and community meals, established a partnership with the mosque “to ensure effective distribution of aid to fire-affected families,” and redirected its annual Ramadan fundraising to emergency relief.
The fire, reportedly caused by Southern California Edison power lines, predominantly destroyed west Altadena’s historically African-American neighborhoods. Nearly half of all Black households in Altadena were lost.
New Horizon School Pasadena’s Annual Ramadan Marketplace will run on Sunday, February 8, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. New Horizon Middle School Campus, 651 N. Orange Grove Boulevard, in Pasadena. For more call (626) 795-5186 or visit https://www.facebook.com/NewHorizonSchoolPasadena/.
