Iowa State Dance Marathon.

By: Jocelyn Arends

Last weekend (Saturday, January, 21) the annual Iowa State Dance Marathon was held. What is Dance Marathon? Dance Marathon is a year long fundraising effort that benefits children and their families at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. One day a year everyone from dancers and committee members to children and their families, come together for a once a year event that showcases several different acts and dances to celebrate the fundraising efforts throughout the year for 15 hours straight. This year, Dance Marathon raised $380,742.15 for it’s 15 year anniversary. Compared to last years 264,290.14, that’s an amazing 44 percent increase. There was nearly 900 dancers this year, which bested last years 810 dancers. All the dancers that participated were there for one reason, because they were simply “Kickin it for the kids” as they say. One of the new additions to this years Dance Marathon was the “Why We Dance” room. This showcased several letters from children, family members and dancers who shared their own thoughts on why they dance. As well as the games and entertainment throughout the night, Dance Marathon had plenty of activities to keep the children and dancers busy. Nobody was ever hungry either, Panda Express and Pancheros donated lots of food to keep everyone full. At the end of the long evening it was revealed that this year’s Dance Marathon made the staggering number of $380,742.15. This left many families and committee members in tears. Joy rang through the place, because their year long efforts had finally paid off. So many kids and their families will be affected positively and to everyone that was involved, it was enough. I was honored and fortunate to attend the Sunday brunch that honored committee members for their efforts. The room was filled with family and Dance Marathon executives from not only Iowa State but also The University of Iowa and Zach Johnson, who is the National Dance Marathon Director for Children’s Miracle Network. Johnson had kind words for everyone involved with Iowa State Dance Marathon and noted that this year’s goal for every Dance Marathon held in 2012 has to have at least 20 percent higher increase than last year’s Dance Marathon event. Iowa State set the bar high by being the first Dance Marathon held in 2012 and posting a 44 percent increase which is over half of what the actual goal that was set. It was also noted that UNI would now be starting up their own Dance Marathon, making all state schools in Iowa involved with Dance Marathon.
No matter what events that went on during Dance Marathon, everyone always had the kids on their mind. 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the children and families of the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. For that reason and that reason alone is why “Kickin It For The Kids” is so important. So if you ever want to get involved, help children who are ill, and have fun while doing all those things, just be a dancer at a Dance Marathon event. Your time, money, and effort will surely change someones life.