Without the fundraising success from bar nights at The Keg of Evanston, 810 Grove St., Special Olympics is finding other ways to raise the money the fund-raisers formerly brought the group.
The group will host “The Price is Right” 7:30 p.m. today at Cahn Auditorium to help make up for the lack of funding.
Special Olympics has tried having fund-raisers at other bars and restaurants, such as Prairie Moon, 1502 Sherman Ave., and Koi, 624 Davis St., but they were not nearly as successful, said group co-chair Shaili Rajput.
The Keg allowed groups to hold bar nights on more nights than other bars until last summer’s shooting prompted NU to ban student groups from hosting events there, co-chair Roger Hsieh told The Daily in January.
A fall 2005 fund-raiser at Prairie Moon had low turnout and made about $115, Hsieh said. Hsieh and Rajput, both Weinberg seniors, did not know the exact amount of money raised at the Koi fund-raiser. Bar nights at The Keg would bring in between $600 and $800, Rajput said.
Special Olympics is trying a variety of fund-raisers to reach its goal of $10,000, she said. The money goes toward putting on a track-and-field event for disabled athletes on April 30, she said.
According to Hsieh, Special Olympics decided to change the event from “NU Idol” to “The Price is Right” because the group thought the “American Idol” concept was getting old with NU students. “The Price is Right” would be a good way to get students involved, he said.
The group hopes to attract at least 200 people and to charge $5 per person, Rajput said.
“Hopefully this is something we can do every year,” she said.
Students who attend will learn about Special Olympics because the trivia questions will be related to the group, Hsieh said.
He estimated that $6,000 to $7,000 has already been raised, and the group also has a 5K run scheduled for April 22. The 5K brought in $1,800 last year, he said.
The group has raised money by canning at Dominick’s Finer Foods and Whole Foods Market and by writing thank-you letters to alumni who donated money through NU’s Phonathon.
Members were also paid to take law research surveys for a parent of an executive board member.
“We had to be creative this year,” Rajput said.
Reach Christina Amoroso at [email protected].
