Dance Marathon Awareness Week kicked off Monday with morale captains gettin’ down in front of Parks Library.

“The goal is to promote Dance Marathon and let people know what it is,” said Ellen Masker, co-director of public relations.

Besides daily dancing this week in front of the library between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Dance Marathon also has an informational booth open and ready for students’ questions. The booth will have Dance Marathon packets outlining how to get involved in the annual fund-raising event.

Last year, 600 Dance Marathon volunteers helped raise $120,500, a record for the ISU campus. This week, Masker and Bronklyn Harms, co-director of public relations, are working to recruit students and reach their goal of having more than 700 dancers in Dance Marathon 2001, scheduled for Dec. 1.

“We want to make it so big that we can’t do it in the Union and have to move into Hilton,” said Masker, junior in agricultural education and agronomy. “Most people have heard of Dance Marathon, but they don’t really know what it’s all about.”

Dance Marathon, a 15-hour dance event, aims to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of Iowa in Iowa City. The money also is used for family care packages with videos, pre-paid phone cards and snacks. The packages are given to families of children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses to ease the stress of emergency hospital visits.

Richard Prestegard, Dance Marathon recruitment co-director, said everyone should participate in Dance Marathon.

“Everyone who wants to raise a couple of dollars should help,” said Prestegard, sophomore in agricultural business. “It’s a great event for everyone in the Ames community and Iowa State staff, not only students.”

A common misconception is that Dance Marathon participants need to know how to dance in order to help out, he said.

“It’s not all dancing,” Prestegard said. “It’s more like a 15-hour party.”

Harms, junior in marketing, encouraged students to stop by the booth this week.

“Dance Marathon has been the best experience I’ve had at Iowa State,” he said. “In the beginning, you are all a bunch of strangers. By the end, you all have a common bond.”

Besides raising money, Masker said meeting the families is part of the Dance Marathon experience.

“At the end of the day, you’re tired, but you know you’ve done a good thing,” she said. “It gives [children] life and hope to know people care about them.”