Cheer Team Uses Haunted House to Fund Competition Costs
Managers of local athletic programs can look to this modular facility model to generate annual operating revenue.
Updated on Oct. 31, 2026 in Philanthropy
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The Express All Stars cheer and dance team is operating its annual Trail of Terror haunted house at the Mesa Mall parking lot. The event serves as a primary fundraiser to offset travel and competition costs for the team.
Why it matters
Operators of community-based organizations can look to this modular model as a way to generate significant revenue for team expenses. By leveraging family labor for design and staffing, the organization maintains low overhead for its 12,000-square-foot facility.
The attraction spans 12,000 square feet and features 25 separate rooms housed within shipping containers. The team has utilized this specific modular infrastructure for five years, building on a 16-year history of organizing the fundraiser.
The players
Express All Stars
A competitive cheer and dance team that manages large-scale seasonal events to fund activity expenses.
Cody Miller
The lead organizer who has managed the development and operations of the event for 16 years.
The details
The event relies on a decentralized management structure where individual families on the cheer and dance team design and staff specific rooms within the shipping containers. A local softball team manages a corn maze section, demonstrating a cross-organization partnership to maximize facility utility. Participants navigate the installation while tethered, a safety and experience feature that manages flow through the high-density container layout.
Timeline
The event currently operates for the October 2026 season.
The current lead organizer began the initiative 16 years ago.
The organization transitioned to using shipping containers five years ago.
Market Landscape
The project follows the pattern of long-running, community-led fundraisers that professionalize their operations over time. This 16-year operating history demonstrates the sustained viability of seasonal pop-up revenue models for youth athletic organizations.
Organizations should consider whether modular assets like shipping containers can reduce facility costs for temporary seasonal installations. Evaluating partnerships with other local teams can also provide additional labor to support site management and increase event capacity.
The takeaway
Small organizations can successfully scale fundraising by standardizing their event components, such as using modular shipping containers for repeatable room designs. Operators should analyze their own facility logistics to determine if a similar high-density model could expand their event capacity.
Further reading
For more on how local groups sustain their programs, see Philanthropy.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
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Do you prefer visiting locally organized seasonal events over commercial haunted house attractions in your area?
