Despite nationwide economic troubles, Dance Marathon participants and organizers said fundraising has not been significantly hindered for this year’s event.
One of DM’s most popular events, Top Chef, brought in about $1,050 and had a large student turnout Saturday. Now in its second year at local Evanston cooking school, Now We’re Cookin’, the competition pits teams of students against each other to be judged on their appetizers, entrees or desserts, said DM food co-chair Vanessa Lee, who helped organize the event.
“We want to definitely continue having this event because we feel it’s very popular,” the Weinberg senior said. “We got a good portion of the student body to come out and support their friends who were cooking.”
Some students using more traditional fundraising methods, however, said that canning on street corners and sidewalks has been more challenging this year.
Casey Buckley and Jeff Lee stood outside shivering on Clark Street while canning for their fraternity, Delta Upsilon, which has already reached its financial “halfway” mark.
“We’ve gotten a lot of ‘I’m broke,'” said Lee, a McCormick freshman. He added that the experience was both fun and humbling.
“It’s interesting to see how people react,” added Buckley, a Weinberg freshman. “I’ve never been on this end before.”
DM finance chairman Peter Koelsch acknowledged that although the state of the economy was a nervous point for the organizers and dancers, he hasn’t found anything significant to worry about just yet, he said.
“Things aren’t markedly worse,” the Weinberg senior said. “That’s a nice surprise, honestly.”
Although DM fundraising staples like Top Chef, Dirty Word Spelling Bee and bar nights have remained popular, people have proposed new ideas such as a Chipotle delivery service, a taxi service and a laundry service.
Corporate sponsors have also stabilized. While some companies that have donated in the past have dropped out, new sponsors have been added, Koelsch said.
But the most important part of the process for DM executives is to keep dancers involved and excited about the main event, Koelsch said.
Although he and the executives were “braced for the worst,” Koelsch is still hopeful that the funds they need will come eventually.
“Time will tell,” he said. “Most of our money doesn’t come in until the last three weeks.”
Ali Elkin contributed reporting.
