Braving bitterly cold weather Sunday, Lindsey Dulin strolled through Chinatown with three other students, celebrating the Chinese New Year and raising money for Dance Marathon.
“We wanted to enjoy the parade and take advantage of the Chicago canning weekend,” said Dulin, Weinberg sophomore and member of DM’s Special Events Committee.
After one hour of canning, Dulin had collected nearly $70 on her own. Initiating conversations with neighborhood residents made them more willing to donate, she said.
“A lot of people in Evanston already support DM,” said Nicole Buseman, a Weinberg sophomore and DM dancer who accompanied Dulin on Sunday. “It was a good way to get another audience involved in the cause.”
Dulin and Buseman, along with other DM dancers, have spent more than two months trying to raise enough cash for the half-money deadline, which was Wednesday. The deadline required dancing couples to submit at least $375 in addition to the $75 registration fee.
Each dancing couple is responsible for raising $750 by Feb. 18, the final due date.
To meet the deadline, some dancers have gotten creative, said Margot Bonner, DM’s executive co-chairwoman.
“Students have done everything from canning downtown to having yard sales at Norris (University Center) to providing services to friends or selling things in dorms,” said Bonner, a Weinberg senior.
The majority of dancers raised their money by canning on specified days in Evanston, Skokie or Chicago, as well as by sending letters to people asking for donations. But some dancers found more creative ways to accomplish the task.
Bryan Kharbanda and Prem Gandhi recently roamed the hallways of both Willard Residential College and Lambda Chi Alpha and promised students they will shave their hair into mohawks if the students donate money.
The two freshmen said they asked more than 100 people over three days, coming $30 short of their $300 goal. The average donation was $1, but one student gave $20. Most gave money to support the DM cause, although some refused, claiming they did not want to see the two dancers with mohawks.
Both Kharbanda, a Weinberg freshman and Gandhi, a McCormick freshman, said they decided to join DM at the last minute when they heard it is essential to the freshman experience.
“I’m glad I did it since I have never been involved in a major fund-raising event,” Kharbanda said. “And we are getting close (to meeting the deadline).”
Even before the deadline, many students had already turned in more than the minimum amount required. There also were long lines at the cashier’s office in Norris on Wednesday as students came to deposit their money.
“People seem on top of meeting deadlines,” said Molly Drake, one of DM’s finance committee co-chairwomen and Medill senior.
It will take several days to find out which dancers did and did not make the deadline, Drake said. Students who fail to meet the $375 minimum will be dealt with individually.
“There is no set system,” Drake said. “But in general we try to stick to deadlines to keep people motivated and keep the money coming in.”
Have Dreams, an organization providing programs for autistic children, is the primary beneficiary for this year’s event.
