What’s better than going to the movies with friends? How about when it benefits a great cause! Hinsdale High School junior Daniel Kamon decided to start his own fundraiser for La Rabida Children’s Hospital by hosting a Harry Potter night at the Movies at a cinema in Elmhurst, a suburb of Chicago.

“I really wanted to do something to raise money and awareness, my grandpa and members of my family have been very involved at the hospital, and my mom and aunt were patients here when they were younger.” said Daniel. “I didn’t have an exact dollar amount in mind, I just wanted to see how many donations we could get, I also wanted to raise awareness of La Rabida."

Daniel met with the manager of the movie theatre and worked out a plan to so half the money from ticket and concession sales would go to La Rabida, and the other half would cover the theatre’s expenses. “We started 3-4 months in advance, it took a decent amount of time to design and print the coupons, advertise it and convince my friends to come,” explained Daniel.  “There were a lot of emails.”

Several dozen friends and family turned out for the special screening of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Thanks to the magical spell Daniel cast on his friends, he raised nearly $2,000 for La Rabida.

“I want others to know this is a really fun way to pitch in and help, every dollar helps,” Daniel added. “It feels good to be able to do something to make kids happy.”

A big thank you to Daniel and everyone who came out to the movies in support of La Rabida Children’s Hospital.