Milpitas Interact and Fashion Club worked together to host mini flea markets during lunch on Oct. 19, 20, 26, and 27, making a profit of $150, according to Interact board director Jannet Nguyen. Students and staff members had the opportunity to sell unwanted clothes, she added.
The mini flea markets were held to promote sustainability and avoid the support of fast fashion, Fashion Club vice president Aarushi Dandin said.
“We decided to hold it to also highlight local MHS student-run businesses as well as give students an opportunity to buy thrifted vintage clothing for a fraction of the (typical) cost,” Dandin said.
Interact’s theme for this school year is environmental consciousness, which they practiced by holding the mini flea market, Nguyen said.
“Clothing in general that people don’t use anymore often gets thrown away and just lands up in landfills, and it’s honestly just so wasteful,” Nguyen said.
Interact will use the funds for donations to fight climate change and pollution in Thailand, Interact secretary Joseph Quach said.
“We have a goal of about 2,000 (community service hours together) by the end of the year, so by working towards that, we can meet that goal,” Quach said. “I believe we made a good portion of that just from this fundraiser itself.”
On the other hand, Fashion Club will use their funds to host style workshops where they pick a fashion-related activity for members to participate in, Dandin said.
“Last time, we did an activity that was bracelet making, and (now) we’re trying to raise funds to do a screen printing workshop,” Dandin said.
Some members of Interact and Fashion Club were vendors themselves at the mini flea market, Quach said.
“Fashion club is kind of new, and we had publicity (on campus) as Interact,” Quach said. “So together, it was nice that both of us collaborated and worked towards making a very accessible fundraiser for everyone.”
Fashion Club hosted a mini flea market last school year as well, giving them the experience to be able to run this year’s mini flea market more smoothly, Dandin said.
“It was a really positive experience,” Dandin said. “Interact was great to work with and hopefully, we’ll have future collaborations together.”