PORTLAND, Ore. – As part of a collaboration between University of Portland Athletics Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Pilot Athlete Resource Center (PARC) and UP Athletics, Saturday's Portland women's basketball game will feature the first every Black History Month Celebration Market, a chance to showcase local black-owned businesses and organizations at the Chiles Center.

"The aim is to help educate our students and members of the community on all that Black Portland has to offer," Portland Pilots Volleyball Player and event organizer Nevaeh Bray said. "Even though it is a smaller-scaled event, I think the the variety in vendors will allow everyone to appreciate just what it is that these businesses do and how they operate within our community."

The event is the first of its kind for UP Athletics during Black History Month. The market will run from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and will feature over 12 vendors, showcasing everything from hair oils from a vendor like Amina Hair Oils to art from artists like former UP men's basketball player and track star Korey Thielke.

For the first 100 students that arrive as well, free Jamaican food courtesy of Yaad Jamaican Cuisine will be given out. Discounted tickets are also available for Saturday's game to non-student fans as part of the event, with $6 general admission tickets available at https://portlandpilots.com/BLACKHISTORYMONTH.

The idea originated on the SAAC DEI committee, which Bray sits on. Early on, Bray worked with the DEI chair, Portland cross country runner Nico Grillo, on hammering out the specifics of what kind of event they wanted to do. They decided to focus on Black History Month. From there, the idea came about to celebrate Black businesses by welcoming them in for a first-of-its-kind event.

"The idea just came one day to me like 'Hey, why not bring in local black businesses and entrepreneurs into our space and allow students and faculty to come together and celebrate and honor and uplift these different businesses,'" Bray said. "One conversation led to another, but obviously we got the full-fledged support coming from the athletic department to house something like this."

Bray noted the specifics of the event came together quickly, with her looking to bring in unique businesses that showcased all that Black Portland had to offer. Bray's past experience working with various nonprofits and justice leagues helped her in putting together an event like this relatively quickly.

Bray noted that students she talks to often want to support Black-owned businesses, but don't always know how. For Bray, the event is about showing students and the community that there's plenty of ways to support.

"We have 6,000 Black-owned businesses in Oregon," Bray highlighted. "So why not bring it to campus for those students that want to learn more about what's happening locally in Portland."

Only students are eligible to enjoy the Jamaican cuisine, but all are welcome to the market for Saturday's event. The most important thing is simultaneously creating a space for everyone – vendors, fans and students alike – to come together and celebrate the Black community in Portland.

"My main is to support Black," Bray said. "I just want to be able to help uplift all of these businesses, and whether it's just by allowing their name to get put out there more or be able to buy their products that they're selling or help them in anyway, I just want this to be an opportunity to support the Black community and Black businesses."

Buy tickets for Saturday's game at https://portlandpilots.com/BLACKHISTORYMONTH.