Imagine you are at the 2020 winter themed Ladue High School SnowBall. You are dancing with your friends to great student requested songs played by the DJ, eating tasty food all night and taking plenty of pictures. Not only are you enjoying yourself, but you are also helping children in need at the same time. 

This years Snow Ball is organized by Unicef along with Club Neuro and takes place Saturday, Jan. 18. from 8pm to 10pm. Tickets for this dance will be $10 and they will be sold at all lunches starting Monday Jan. 6.

Senior Giuseppe Di Cera, the president of Unicef, had previously worked on planning for this dance when he was a sophomore as a part of Stucco. However, the dance was cancelled due to the weather and was not rescheduled. Last year, the dance, planned by Unicef,  raised $4,000 dollars for charities such as Unicef and The Missouri Epilepsy Foundation. This year the two clubs, Unicef and Club Neuro will co-run this dance.

“We don’t really have a goal for the amount of money we would like to raise this year. I’d say that. Just off the top of my head, we would like to raise around $6,000 for both clubs as we are spending a lot of money to plan this dance. Unicef raises money for kids. who don’t have access to basic resources like clean water, nutritional supplies like food, educational resources, like notebooks and backpacks, and even sanitation facilities like hygienic toilets. We raise money to fund resources to give to the children so that they can live a normal childhood,” Di Cera said.

Senior Shelei Pan, the president of Club Neuro, has been helping plan for this dance ever since the dance ended last year. This year, Club neuro will be donating their proceeds to The Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation.

“This organization basically supports families with children who are just diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which is a cancer that often originates in the stomach in children. Those affected are 90 percent of kids under the age of  five so it’s really devastating because from the from the ages of zero to five is when kids develop the most and so these kids are impacted pretty heavily. These cancers also often relapse again, so they come back in the brain or other places, and that’s when it becomes really bad because those cancers are often deadly,” Pan said. 

By being a ticket and coming to the dance, students can help donate to both Unicef and The Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation, as proceeds will be split 50-50 and 100 percent of the profits will be donated towards a good cause. 

“I think our goal is more as a whole is more participation. I would really like to see 100% student turnout if possible,” Pan said.