More than three hundred students will sweat it out on the dance floor for 15 hours on Saturday as part of an effort to raise $15,000 in the University’s first dance marathon.
Already present at more than 80 colleges across the country, the Children’s Miracle Network-sponsored event has raised more than $3.7 million since 1995 for children’s units in hospitals.
“The Children’s Miracle Network touches so many lives in Oregon, including my own family, and I am proud that students here at the U of O are willing to band together and dance for this great cause,” said University student Todd Mann, co-director of the Morale and Recruitment Committee.
Mann said his desire to get involved stemmed from the experience of losing his 5-month-old brother.
The proceeds from the event will be divided 50/50 between Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland and Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene.
Participants have been gathering pledges through letter-writing campaigns from friends, family members and businesses since last fall, which they will collect and bring to the event this Saturday at 9 a.m.”In my four years on campus, I’ve never seen so many different students and student groups come together for a first-year event organized entirely by students,” Mann said.It’s not too late to get involved. Those who haven’t signed up still can by stopping by the Leadership Resource Office in the Erb Memorial Union or by going to http://dm.uoregon.edu.
The registration fee is $15 and students who wish to participate need to raise $150 by the time of the event. Students can also stop by to listen to the bands for a donation at the door.
Julie Stevens, University graduate student and the head director of the event, participated in six Dance Marathons before bringing the program idea to the University last year.
“It was probably the greatest thing I’ve done in my college career,” Stevens said, who raised $700 her first year as a student at Iowa State University.
Stevens said her favorite part of the event is getting to meet the families of the children who have benefited from the Children’s Miracle Network.
Eleven families from Eugene and around Oregon will attend the event, many of whom have already met participants.
Students took children and their families to the pumpkin patch over Halloween weekend, where they went on hay rides, painted pumpkins and visited the petting zoo, Stevens said.
On Saturday, students will drop off their earnings at the EMU Ballroom and the dancing will begin with morale committee members teaching the dance they have choreographed and practiced around campus since last term.
“You get everybody back on the dance floor,” Stevens said of the dance, which will be performed every hour throughout the day.
The 15 hours of dancing will be divided into themed music hours with everything from 90’s to Disney music.
Entertainment will include live local bands, the University cheerleaders, the dance team, UO Jam Squad and a visit from Donald Duck, said Marisa Olson, a University public relations major working for the Dance Marathon this year.
“All of the participants are divided into groups and each group is responsible for a child,” Olson said, adding that the families and children will be given the opportunity to talk to students and tell their stories.
Most first-year universities raise around $10,000 Mann said, but the University set its goal at $15,000, which he and Olson said they believe they can reach and surpass.
“It’s great to see the energy and enthusiasm that runs rampant here at the U of O being brought to bear to benefit children in need across Oregon,” Mann said.
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