Although there’s only one day until Dance Marathon, it’s not too late to sign up for the largest philanthropic organization at Iowa State.

“[Dance Marathon] is an amazing activity, my favorite activity of the year, and once you do it once, you’re hooked,” said Christopher Deal, co-chairman of the event and senior in mechanical engineering.

To participate in Dance Marathon, students must raise $175 plus a $25 registration fee, to support the Children’s Hospital of Iowa and Children’s Miracle Network. On Jan. 20, participants will experience a “15-hour bonanza of fun, games and dancing” in the Memorial Union, according to the Dance Marathon Web site. Children benefiting from the event and their families are invited to attend.

“We currently have 91 families invited to the event, with 150 to 200 family members expected to show up,” Deal said.

Last year, Dance Marathon raised $146,000 and expects to raise more than $200,000 this year.

“[Students typically raise money through] letter-writing campaigns, where students send letters to family and friends, and ‘canning,’ where you go door to door,” Deal said.

All funds are distributed by the executive committee, which selects a program from several options presented by physicians from the Children’s Hospital of Iowa.

“We get to distribute and make sure 100 percent of [the money] goes directly to kids,” Deal said.

According to the Web site, there are currently 917 registered dancers, 110 committee members and 17 executive members involved in the organization. Students can apply for 2008 committee and executive positions following this year’s event.

“I don’t do it for looking good on a resume, I do it for serving people,” said Peter Arentson, sophomore in pre-business and member of the families committee.

Arentson, a member of Phi Delta Theta, said he was encouraged by his fraternity brothers to try Dance Marathon.

“Part of it was the fraternity, but it’s hard to turn down the opportunity to work for children who have had a difficult life – working with disabled kids is a good experience,” Arentson said.

Deal said although 60 percent of the dancers come from the Greek community, this is by no means strictly a Greek event.

“Not being Greek wasn’t a problem at all [when I joined Dance Marathon],” said Brian Kahler, sophomore in pre-business.

Kahler discovered Dance Marathon through his membership in Freshman Council.

“It’s a really worthy cause that everyone should be involved with and the more people we can get involved, the better it is going to be,” Kahler said.

For more information on Dance Marathon or to register for this event, students can go to www.dm.stuorg.iastate.edu.

“Dance Marathon is open to all ISU students and all are encouraged to participate,” Deal said.

On the day of the event, a live feed can be found at www.dm.stuorg.iastate.edu.