Last year, the University’s Dance Marathon raised nearly $18,000 for Oregon hospitals at the inaugural event of the same name. This winter, the student-run organization hopes to raise even more.
To promote and increase awareness for the 15-hour fundraiser in January, Dance Marathon is hosting Monster Mash Friday night in the EMU’s Fir Room.

A network of college campuses across the country, Dance Marathon hosts the events to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children.
Monster Mash, a mini-Dance Marathon of sorts, is a three-hour costume party with music, dancing, snacks and prizes like backpacks and T-shirts.
Dance Marathon Director Lacey Mickleburgh, who is going as a ballerina, said Monster Mash will be a fun way to spend Halloween without drinking. It’s also a way for Dance Marathon to register more groups of students, referred to as dance teams. With more than two months before the event, there are currently 50 teams registered.
Teams pay $15 to register and then send letters to family members and friends asking for donations.
“We suggest and highly recommend everyone raises $150,” Mickleburgh said.
Like last year, all proceeds from the University’s Dance Marathon will go to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene and Portland’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, two of the 170 American hospitals affiliated with CMN.
Dance Marathon will also feature “miracle families.”
“They’re people and families that have had children sick or needed special care in intensive care units,” said Christine Webb of Sacred Heart Hospital’s CMN. “They are the families that really benefit from the money Dance Marathon raised.”
Proceeds largely went toward purchasing equipment such as incubators, fetal monitors and warming beds, which are used for treating premature babies.
“It’s kind of like an empathetic event where if you can dance for 15 hours, that’s a way to give back,” Mickleburgh said.
More than 80 colleges and universities are affiliated with Dance Marathon, and last year they combined to donate a total of $4.3 million to CMN.
“It’s fascinating to see how excited these college students get about helping their community,” said Director of Communications April Bitton in a phone interview from CMN’s headquarters in Salt Lake City.
“The cool thing about Dance Marathon is that it’s all student-run,” Bitton continued. “We do train people, but the students do it all. To see their creativity and passion, it’s just amazing.”
Mickleburgh is looking forward to Dance Marathon, an event she said is extremely tiring, but ultimately worth it.
“Watching those 15 hours happen and being so busy and seeing the faces of the families and how grateful they are that students are taking time out of their weekends and doing something bigger than themselves…at the end of those 15 hours, I was exhausted, but so fulfilled,” she said.
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