Students will travel to Patten Gym with suitcases in tow tonight, hoping to win a trip to Atlanta, the Caribbean, Boston or Orlando.
These hopeful students will be attending Suitcase Party from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Patten. Students purchase an $8 raffle ticket for the four trips upon entering the door and can buy additional tickets for $1.
Suitcase Party, a Northwestern philanthropy that raises money and awareness for different charities, is donating its proceeds to Inspiration Cafe this year. Inspiration Cafe is a restaurant and resource center in Chicago for the homeless.
The trip winners will be announced at 12:40 a.m., and winners of the Orlando trip leave about an hour later, said Kelly Corcoran, Suitcase Party co-chair.
“The point is that people should have their suitcases packed and ready to go before they come to the party,” said Corcoran, a Weinberg junior.
About 80 door prizes will be raffled off throughout the night, with prizes including hotel accommodations in Chicago, airline vouchers, an autographed picture of Jerry Springer and gift certificates, Corcoran said.
“We have had a great year,” she said. “We have been working really hard to turn this into a yearlong event.”
Corcoran said Suitcase Party committee members have volunteered many times at Inspiration Cafe to serve breakfast and dinner, teach computer skills and bake cookies.
“It has been great to build such a great relationship with the charity,” she said. “We have been able to form relationships with the guests there, which has been very rewarding.”
Corcoran said the group tried include the atmosphere of the charity when deciding this year’s theme, “There’s Nothing Finer than a Night at the Diner.”
Both Corcoran and Kris Kitto, a committee chairman, said they have been motivated by Inspiration Cafe.
“I am excited to represent the beneficiary in every outlet of the party,” said Kitto, a Speech junior. “No matter how the night goes and how much money we make this year, it’s been exciting to work with Inspiration Cafe.”
WTMX The Mix (101.9 FM) is sponsoring Suitcase Party this year, and afternoon deejay Brian Peck will serve as a guest emcee for the night. The Mix’s road crew will provide music and motivation during the party by giving out CDs and T-shirts.
The party will feature three live bands: Jimmy Sutton’s Four Charms, The Leah Galyean Band and Sweet Sweet Candy.
Suitcase Party organizers also chose six candidates — Manu Bhardwaj, Adam Humann, men’s tennis coach Paul Torricelli, Nick Webber, Prof. Mark Witte and Hilary Zalar — for a pie-in-the-face contest. Students can donate in the name of each candidate, and the emcee will auction off the chance to throw a pie in the face of the person with the most donations.
A shuttle will leave from Cahn Auditorium every 15 minutes, starting at 8:45 p.m., to take students to Patten, Corcoran said.
