The [Materials and Engineering Research Society](https://www.seas.ucla.edu/mrs/) hosted a book and bake sale to support wildfire relief Feb. 11.
The event started at 11 a.m. in Engineering V. Professor Yang Yang, the department chair of Materials Science and Engineering, said the fundraiser – which around 120 people attended – raised a total of $481. The MRS distributed $100 to Westwood’s Station 37 and $381 to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s emergency wildfire fund.
The sale was structured so people could pay what they wished, with around 80 contributors spending approximately $5 to $10 on books or goods department students and faculty had baked.
Fires across Los Angeles County burned over 50,000 acres, impacting over 16,000 structures, according to the California Department of Fires and Forestry website. Since the fires – which began Jan. 7 – people have been displaced and have asked for government support.
Jasmine Yang, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering and a graduate representative of MRS, said the idea of selling books and baked goods came from their associations with fire.
“What’s associated with a fire?” Jasmine Yang asked. “Fahrenheit 451, and then of course, baked goods where we have to put it through an oven.”
Jasmine Yang said Yang Yang was in the evacuation zone, and a few other faculty members were also directly impacted, something which – alongside the overall devastation the fires had caused to the Los Angeles community – inspired her.
Cylin Wang, an art history and materials engineering student, said the research society does not hold fundraisers often, but the fact that materials science and engineering is such a small major makes it easy to host an event for the community.
“We also are very closely tied with our faculty and it’s something that kind of just spontaneously happened,” said Wang, the outreach committee head of the MRS.
Wang said she made mochi with strawberries and mandarins during the event using a Hong Kong street food recipe. Additionally, she gave attendees the choice between matcha, cacao powder, black sesame or powdered sugar.
Yang Yang brought dessert from Taiwan, she said.
The research society also hosts a similar event called FAST every month, where faculty and students within the department share food from their home countries and socialize, Wang said.
“If people want to charge for food and give it to a cause, I don’t think a lot of people would mind,” Wang said.
Jazmyn Lu, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering, said she attended the event to support the fire department, which is underfunded. Lu added that they were surprised at the large turnout at the event.
Lu also said most of her research takes place at the Getty Villa, which is now temporarily closed due to the fires, according to the museum’s website.
“Before coming, it would be expected if we made more than $100,” Lu said. “But we probably broke that in like 30 minutes, which is crazy.”
Garret May, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering, said he helped bake for the event and was also surprised at the amount of people who participated.
“Someone told me that we had people from the chemical and bioengineering department coming in,” he said. “Normally our events are central to material science … it’s very encouraging to have outreach beyond our department.”