The Dance Marathon fundraising season has begun at Northwestern, and dancers have already been doing their best to fill cans with spare change.

Some students and groups, however,decided to stray from that well-worn path and have come up with unique ideas to raise funds for this year’s charity, Team Joseph, which supports research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Here are a few ways DM teams are thinking outside the can to raise the necessary money by the start of DM, scheduled for March 7-9.

Bringing munchies to you

Weinberg freshman Jacob Rosenblum has been taking advantage of NU students’ late-night cravings with his delivery service, Hungry, Lazy & Craving Fran’s. Taking orders through text, Rosenblum will bring orders anywhere on South campus, with a $1 surcharge to benefit the Willard Residential College DM team. He said since he began about a week ago, he has made about $80 over four nights.

“I walk there, so when I get there I’m wind-bitten and sweaty,” Rosenblum said. “Usually people feel bad and donate more or tell me to keep the change.”

Rosenblum credits Weinberg sophomore Sam Madvig with the idea, but he has had extensive fundraising experience himself. In high school, he started his own dance marathon, which drew 800 dancers to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“I love when hundreds of people come together to achieve one cause,” he said.

Rosenblum is also on the DM dancer relations committee and is the DM liaison to Willard.

Hungry, Lazy & Craving Fran’s delivers Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Skills for sale

People are tapping into their talents to fundraise for Northwestern University Marching Band’s DM team. Each year, the NUMB team sets up an auction for its dancers to sell things like hand-knit scarves and blankets, home-cooked meals and even music lessons.

“It’s been successful in the past because people may make pillows or whatever and want to sell them, but they have no one to sell them to,” said Cameron Ulmer, a NUMB team captain. “This makes it really easy for them.”

The auction, which will be held during Winter Quarter, is open to everyone but mostly broadcast to members of NUMB, the Weinberg junior said. Funds from items sold go directly to the individual DM accounts of the seller.

Party cab

NU students have long frequented the Mark II in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, fondly termed “the Deuce.” SESP sophomore Rachel Adler and Weinberg sophomore Steffi Brock-Wilson noticed the local landmark’s popularity when they started giving rides to friends and began requesting small donations to take them there. Deuce Taxi was born.

“People are excited that if they’re gonna spend money on a cab, they can now donate to DM too,” Adler said. “Plus, it’s also about the experience.”

“The experience” includes a guest book for riders to sign in, music and trivia during the ride. The suggested donation amount is $2 to $4, all of which goes toward the Project Wildcat DM team. Adler and Brock-Wilson both were counselors for PWild before the 2013-14 academic year and want to continue their involvement through DM.

“This is PWild’s first year having a team,” Brock-Wilson said. “A lot of the motivation behind it is that we think PWild has a lot of potential to raise money.”

Deuce Taxi has raised almost $200 in two weeks, Adler said, with an ultimate goal of $800.

Deuce Taxi takes appointments by phone and runs Thursday nights and Friday mornings from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

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