Suitcase Party organizers attempted to bring this year’s recipient charity closer to home Sunday by inviting to campus about 40 children from the Starlight Children’s Foundation for an afternoon of music, food and face painting.
The Starlight Children’s Foundation and Suitcase Party Valentine’s Day Pep Rally, held in Norris University Center’s Louis Room, gave Northwestern students a chance to interact with terminally ill children from the Chicago area.
The Lady Cats, NU cheerleaders, Boomshaka and Aural Fixation provided entertainment.
“I saw a lot of smiles, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Pam Bailey, the foundation’s director of development. “(The children) admire them, and you can see the wonder in their eyes.”
The Lady Cats and cheerleaders each opened the show with a dance and cheer sequence. Willie the Wildcat and the foundation’s mascot, a gold star in a purple jumpsuit, also stopped by to play with the children. Boomshaka followed with a 30-minute step presentation, combining dance, percussion and an improvised a cappella routine.
“It’s good. I liked the drumsticks,” said John Casimiro, 11, who came with his cousin, brother and sister.
Aural Fixation led the finale with three songs.
Athletes from seven NU teams, including tennis, swimming and football, signed autographs and took pictures with the children. Boomshaka performers enlisted football player Eric Worley, a Speech sophomore, to join the improvisation, causing laughter from the crowd. Worley said the football team was happy to help out.
“I came to support young children,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that some kids don’t have the opportunity to become athletes or go to a prestigious university.”
Students from Evanston Township High School volunteered at the event by decorating the Louis Room and working at the face-painting and food tables.
“I think it’s really exciting because it’s helping the community and it’s also with NU,” said Laura Snyder, a junior at ETHS. “It’s bringing high school kids and college kids and little kids together.”
Speech senior Erin Schilling, who asked ETHS students to help at the event, agreed that participation from groups outside NU should be encouraged.
“I think it’s great,” Schilling said. “We’ve been trying to get the Evanston community more involved with Suitcase Party.”
The Starlight Children’s Foundation works to “brighten the lives of seriously ill children,” according to Bailey, the foundation’s director of development.
Actress Emma Samms started the foundation in 1983 as a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for kids, largely through granting wishes.
The group provides services to 15,000 children monthly, Bailey said.
Speech senior Kelly Corcoran, executive co-chair, said Sunday’s rally was “the best event Suitcase Party has ever done.”
“Starlight would be a charity a lot of Northwestern kids could relate to,” she said.
Although Suitcase Party has not announced a goal for this year’s fund raising, Corcoran said she would like to beat last year’s total of $25,000, which they donated to Inspiration Cafe. The annual Suitcase Party will be held April 5.
