Raising awareness and informing students on how to get involved in issues that may affect them, is just one of the goals that organizers of the first annual Social Justice Fair have.

The fair will take place on March 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Schauerman Library Lawn.

Breanna von Stein, student service specialist said the mission statement for the fair is “To expose the student population and the surrounding community to a variety of social justice issues as well as organizations which address them, and to encourage and empower students to participate in such issues and organizations,” Stein said.

The event is sponsored by the ECC Feminist Alliance Club and the Student Services Center and will feature appearances of many social justice groups in order to expose students to them and their causes, Stein said.

“I think this is really important because these are everyday issues that largely get overlooked yet affect most of us in some way or another whether we realize it or not,” Robert BeWeitz, 23, student organizer, said. “I think it’s really important to put a spotlight on these issues and these organizations are on the front lines dealing with them or addressing them.”

“We want to encourage them to get involved, whether it’s volunteering or just signing a petition or helping to raise awareness,”student organize and ECC Feminist Alliance member, Brenda Diaz,23, deaf studies, said.

The event will also feature numerous activities such as silk screeners distributing free recycled T-shirts, the Veggie Grill will be sampling vegan food, poets will be be performing, as well as a screening of the film “Sin by Silence” at 5 p.m. in the Activities Center, BeWitz said.

Brenda Clubine, maker of “Sin by Silence” and founder of the Convicted Women Against Abuse and Every 9 Seconds organizations, will be one of the speakers at the event along with Code Pink; a women anti-war organization, the Occupy Fights Foreclosures organization and more, Bewitz said.

“I think that it’s important for us as a community to not just be aware of them but also to acknowledge them and have a conversation and always stay connected in some shape or form,” Bewitz said.

Diaz added that she hopes the event will help inform students and give them greater understandings of the issues that these organizations are trying to fight.

“Just organizing this event I learned so much about these different issues and I feel like that’s already something,” Diaz said. “I think even that just makes a difference.”