The post-prom committee received a generous surprise last week when an anonymous family offered to donate $5,000 to the post-prom fund. But the donation came with a condition—senior parents would have to match the amount. Though there was only a short amount of time between when the offer was announced Feb. 6 and the deadline of Feb. 10, the post-prom committee exceeded the $5,000 that they needed to raise, head of parent contributions Jean Schlesinger said.

“We were thrilled with the response of parents,” she said. “It was tremendous.”

The post-prom committee was working hard to meet shortages after this year’s senior parents meeting attracted an unusually low number of senior parents Feb. 4.

“Typically, there’s very good attendance and we do the bulk of fundraising there,” Schlesinger said.

Post-prom co-chairs Jodi McGill and Gina Trant advertised the opportunity to match the donation on Whitnet, stressing the urgency of their request, especially because prom takes place April 24, earlier than past years.

“We are pushing to fill the void,” they wrote.

Parent contributions make up a significant part of the post-prom budget, along with corporate donations and their biggest fundraiser, selling tickets to see Capitol Steps, a musical comedy group that satirizes the Senate.

Post-prom is a large undertaking for parents and involves almost a year of planning.

“It’s providing for five hours of entertainment for 500 to 600 students,” Schlesinger said.

Despite the scale of the task and a disappointing senior parents meeting, the post-prom committee has rallied. The anonymous donation was a welcome surprise that changed the course of fundraising, Schlesinger said.

“I think this energized the senior parents,” she said. “We are well on our way to meeting our fundraising goal.”