White paper cutouts fill the room as Paly’s art club creates snowflakes to use as decorations for Paly’s first winter formal, taking place Feb. 3.

The dance, sponsored by Paly’s Youth Community Service club, will benefit victims of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

“100 percent of the proceeds from this dance go to Darfur,” YCS president, Caterina Yuan, said. “Everything is donated for the dance: the decorations, the DJ and food.”

According to Yuan, YCS pays for all the decorations, students council pays for the DJ, and parents and local bakeries donate food.

“The food will be different types of non-messy desserts, like cookies and cakes,” Yuan said.

Although ticket sales were scheduled to end Friday, Jan. 27, they have been extended through the week leading up to the dance.

According to student activities director Joan Vaars, tickets were scheduled to end a week before the dance because more time is needed to prepare for a formal, such as how much food and how many tables need to be provided. However, according to Yuan, ticket sales have been extended because many students forgot to bring money, $20 per ticket, by the Jan. 27 deadline.

According to Yuan, as of Jan. 27, about 400 tickets were sold, and $8,000 was made, meeting YCS’s goal of selling 400-500 tickets.

Since the dance is a formal, the dress code will be different from other dances. Boys must wear a button-down shirt, and a tie is optional. Girls must wear a nice dress, skirt, or pants. No jeans are allowed for either boys or girls.

Besides the dress code, the same rules apply to the winter formal as they do for other dances. According to Vaars, the same amount of security for all dances will be provided, consisting of four to six police officers, as well as parent and staff chaperones.