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This event actually happened in December 2011 at Evanston Township High School. The fundraiser was organized by seniors Charlotte Runzel and Jesse Chatz to save Boocoo Cultural Center, a struggling nonprofit cafe and arts center. They played 'Baby' between classes and raised $1,000 in 3 days (Monday-Wednesday), faster than their expected week-long timeline. However, the fact is written in past tense ('played,' 'collected'), which is correct - this was a one-time historical event, not an ongoing practice.
Evanston Township High School in Illinois played Justin Bieber's 'Baby' as a fundraiser between classes. Students had to pay to stop it. $1,000 was collected in 3 days.
School Tortured Students With Bieber to Raise $1,000
In December 2011, students at Evanston Township High School in Illinois experienced what many would call psychological warfare disguised as charity. Two enterprising seniors, Charlotte Runzel and Jesse Chatz, convinced school administrators to let them play Justin Bieber's inescapable hit "Baby" over the intercom system between every class change. The only way to make it stop? Donations.
The fundraiser, dubbed "Stop the Bieber," had a noble cause: saving Boocoo Cultural Center, a nonprofit cafe and arts center near the school that had become a beloved hangout spot for students but was struggling financially. Runzel and Chatz needed to raise $1,000 to keep the center alive, and they knew desperate times called for desperate measures.
Baby, Baby, Baby... NO
The song played approximately 20 times over those three days, meaning students heard the word "baby" sung roughly 1,080 times (the song features the word 54 times per play). For context, that's enough repetition to drive even the most devoted Belieber to madness.
What made the campaign particularly effective was its brilliant psychological simplicity. Students couldn't escape to their cars or put in earbuds during class changes. They were a captive audience, forced to endure the repetitive chorus of "Baby, baby, baby, ohhh" echoing through the hallways. Every passing period became a test of willpower.
Victory Came Quickly
Runzel and Chatz initially estimated it would take a full week to hit their fundraising target. They were wrong. The student body's desperation to end the musical torment was so intense that donations poured in at an unprecedented rate. By Wednesdayâjust three days after the campaign launched on Mondayâstudents had collectively coughed up enough cash to silence the Canadian pop star.
The rapid success revealed an important truth about fundraising: sometimes annoyance is a more powerful motivator than altruism. While students certainly cared about saving their local hangout spot, the immediate relief of stopping the song provided a tangible, instant reward for their donations.
A Legacy of Creative Fundraising
The "Stop the Bieber" campaign gained national media attention and became a case study in creative fundraising. It demonstrated that high school students could be remarkably generous when properly motivatedâeven if that motivation was escaping auditory torture. The story spread across news outlets, with headlines celebrating both the students' ingenuity and their classmates' willingness to pay for peace.
Boocoo Cultural Center was saved, at least temporarily, giving students their community space back. And Justin Bieber, unknowingly, had helped fund a small arts nonprofit in suburban Chicago through the sheer power of repetitive pop hooks.
The campaign remains one of the most memorable examples of fundraising through friendly coercion, proving that sometimes the best way to open wallets is to assault eardrums first.