DeKalb residents showed their support by shopping at a DeKalb Area Women’s Center holiday fair.

The DeKalb Area Women’s Center (DAWC), 1021 State St., hosted its 18th annual Holiday Shopping Fair on Saturday. Artists, crafters and home-based businesses came together to raise money for the DAWC.

“We want to be able to offer free, low-cost programming to the wider community,” said DAWC Director Anna Marie Coveny. “The Holiday Shopping Fair is critical for the DeKalb Area Women’s Center to stay open through the heating year.”

The DAWC tries to promote local artisans and musicians. Every hour on the hour there was live music performed by local musicians.

Gayle Meier, a vendor at the fair, crafted colorful pieces of art entirely out of zippers. The sculptures she made included apples, butterflies, fish, hearts and more. This is her 12th year in a row at the fair. She said she looks forward to participating every year.

“I love to do this because it’s such a cool event and everyone always enjoys being here,” Meier said.

Another vendor was Beverley Lane, who is a volunteer salesperson for MayaWorks. MayaWorks is a national volunteer organization based out of Chicago which aims to help Maya women and children in Guatemala, Lane said.

The women of Guatemala make clothing, bags and jewelry out of beads, and vendors like Lane sell the items in the U.S. Maya women get 75 cents of each dollar. Many of the women in Guatemala are able to save the money earned to send their children away to college, Lane said.

Shoppers were entertained by the good music, artwork and overall atmosphere of the fair.

“This is my first year here and I really enjoyed it,” said Midge Vanlent, a DeKalb resident whose husband was a vendor at the fair. “I will definitely come next year.”