Low turnout led Student Council organizers to remove the main prize from the raffle prizes for Labapalooza, a dance marathon fundraiser held April 27. They also shortened the event by three hours when participation and fundraising was far below expectations.

Because the event had only 30 pre-registrations, Student Council members projected they would earn more money to donate to I Grow Chicago if they didn’t offer the main prize, a four-day Lollapalooza ticket. The only high school student registered for the dance would have won the ticket by default.

“Considering that we cut the event short because of low turnout,” All-School President Shiva Menta said, “we didn’t feel that giving away a Lollapalooza ticket worth $340 for three hours of dancing was a good use of school resources.”

At the first Labapalooza last year, Student Council raised $4,672, so organizers set a goal of $5,000 for 2019. They donated around $1,000 this year, according to Shiva.

Aly Latherow, all-school Cultural Union president, credited last year’s organizers with the passion that drove the success for a new event. Continuing that momentum was not easy.

“They had also started planning earlier than we did, she said. “We thought that because they did it last year it would be simpler to plan, so we didn’t put as much time into it.”

Shiva and Aly agreed that Student Council will probably not host Labapalooza next year.

“There was more advertising last year because it was the first year of Labapalooza being held, so actually getting community buy-in was more necessary,” Shiva said.

Despite the low attendance, Shiva and Aly said that the event was worth it because it benefited a good cause.