Fundraising at Paly is usually carried out by juniors or seniors and often includes donating old, used, possessions, or quite often food. However, Paly fundraising is back in full-swing this year in one of the most peculiar ways yet: two freshmen hosting a dance party.

Freshmen and best friends Ricky Minno and Sam Greene will host an 18-and-under dance at Club Illusion on Friday, March 21. The proceeds will be sent to Africa in coordination with the Lundres Murtola Foundation.

“It can be a little intimidating trying to organize a fundraiser as a freshman, especially if you’re trying to get senior participation,” Minno said. “So we tried to direct something at kids in our grade.”

In the last few years, Paly fundraising has been dominated by the student-run club, Action in Africa Club, a predominantly junior and senior-run operation. Rarely, if ever have freshman been known to organize something of this sort.

While neither friend will take sole credit for the idea, they both remember the simple thinking that led to the idea of their party. “We wanted to do some sort of fundraising for a while and we also wanted to have a party,” Minno said. “So we basically just combined the two.”

Once they had the idea, all they had to do was choose a venue and a foundation to donate to. The boys had attended an unrelated dance at Club Illusion earlier in the year and were impressed.

“Once we thought of using Club Illusion we called the manager to see if it would work for us,” Greene said.

They liked what they heard from the club.

“They take full liability and provide bouncers,” Greene said. “We didn’t want to get in any trouble, so it seemed like a pretty good place to hold it at.”

Figuring out who to donate to came pretty easily to the freshmen.

“My mom’s friend is the head of the Lundres Murtola foundation,” Minno said. “It was a pretty easy decision.”

As Lundres Murtola was a famous soccer player who grew up in poverty-ridden Mozambique, the foundation aims to increase participation and organization in African sports. The foundation’s hope is that organization can harness much of the undiscovered soccer talent in the little known parts of Africa. When aspiring players find success and fame at the national level, their wealth and leadership will ideally benefit their homeland.

As for getting participation for the dance, the boys admit that is the easiest aspect of the entire endeavor.

“We have friends representing us at other schools,” Greene said. “We expect about three fourths of everyone there to be from somewhere other then Paly.

“The party was specifically intended to be host to Menlo-Atherton, St. Francis, Sacred Heart, Paly and Gunn students, but the friends will not mind if others show up.

Club Illusion on California Avenue can accommodate up to 450 people, and Minno and Greene are expecting it to be sold out by the day of the dance. The Facebook event for the party already has 280 “confirmed guests” and another 400 who “maybe are attending”.

If the dance is sold out as expected, the gross income will be at about $9,000. After $4,000 is given to the club for their efforts, about $5,000 will be sent to Africa.

Adam Whitfield, former president of Paly’s Action in Africa Club and student at Whitman College, was impressed by the young students work.

“I am so happy to see that Paly’s freshmen are getting involved on campus,” Whitfield said. “Freshmen year is a scary time, and a year vital in the transformation from a middle school student to a mature high school student. It just amazes me that these young students are taking it to the next level and getting involved with Action in Africa. Innovation is the key in making an organization, club or any business successful… Dances are a great way to accumulate both high amounts of student involvement and overall monetary profit.”

If the dance turns out well, the boys hope to make it a tradition.

“If enough people have fun, we would like to do it at least a couple times a year,” Minno said.

Regular admission tickets are being sold for $15. VIP tickets can be purchased for $30 and include admission through the no-wait line, access to the upstairs lounge, and free drinks for the night. Left-over tickets will be sold at the door on the day of the dance, however at an elevated price.