The Aden YES Alumni (AYA) club organized three bake sale activities to raise funds for an Eid Al-Adha event at a local, under served orphanage based in Aden, Yemen. The first bake sale was held at AMIDEAST on August 4th. Alumni made a variety of American and Middle Eastern homemade food and raised 75,000 YER (about $300 USD) in six hours of sales! The food must have been really delicious! 

The event wasn't just about food or raising money, it was also about community building. One volunteer at the event said, “It was really nice hanging with the YES alumni, the event was so entertaining and well organized, I will definitely continue volunteering with the AYA”. 

Since that first bake sale was such a success - raising significant funds and bringing together the volunteer community - AYA held a second one at the Faculty of Engineering at Aden University, just 11 days later. YES alumni who study in the university got together with their peers to organize the event and prepare a variety of dishes. This second bake sale almost raised as much as the first - 56,140 YER (about $225 USD). 

YES alumni enjoyed volunteering at their school along with their friends and classmates. It was also an excellent opportunity for the YES alumni to raise awareness among the university students about the importance of doing community service activities. 

A third and final bake sale was held at AMIDEAST Aden again on August 24th. This time, in addition to the dishes made by YES alumni and volunteers, dishes were also donated by a local restaurant called Al-Sharq Al-Awsat and a bakery called Cupcake. With so many delicious items for sale, and a good cause behind it all, this bake sale raised over 70,000 YER (about $280 USD). 

The YES alumni again enjoyed working with new volunteers, making new bonds, and benefiting their society. Parents of the alumni donated their time in these activities by helping their kids in preparing the dishes.

The bake sale activities raised enough money to conduct an Eid activity at the orphanage, to provide the orphans with new clothing for the Eid holidays, and to put smiles on their faces. AYA was able to purchase clothing for 25 orphans as well as some small treats and gifts. On September 7th, the YES alumni brought these supplies to the orphanage, played games with the kids, and shared a cake to celebrate the holiday. 

The AYA leader, Mona Saif (YES 2013-2014, hosted by AYUSA in Phoenix, AZ), says it best, "It was really fascinating to see how the kids looked up to us. They were having so much fun and their smiles never left their faces.This type of success keeps the drive and motivation for future projects rising.”