At colleges across the nation, students are dancing the night away to help a worthy cause. And for the third consecutive year, Iowa State is joining the fun as students will gather at the Memorial Union from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday for the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Dance Marathon.

ISU’s Dance Marathon aids children at the University of Iowa Hospital and has grown in every area each year. Last year, the event raised $34,000 and organizers have set a goal of $75,000 for this year.

Carrie Driscoll, junior in psychology and co-chairwoman of the event, says 470 dancers, 60 committee members and 17 families will be involved in the festivities. She hopes to see ISU’s Dance Marathon continue to increase in numbers each year.

“I want to make it a big, campuswide event because it’s such a good cause,” Driscoll says. “Hopefully, we’ll have to move because of our size.”

CMN is an organization that offers both emotional and financial support to children with cancer and their families.

The Dance Marathon tradition began in 1973 at Penn State University. CMN’s involvement began in 1995 with participation from four schools. This year, schools across the country are participating and about 60 ISU students are involved on campus.

Co-chairman Austin Woodin, junior in finance, predicts ISU has shown one of the largest increases in participation over the past year, and hopes to keep seeing growth both financially and in numbers.

“We want to keep it growing and have people enjoy it,” Woodin says. “We want to make it one of, if not the largest, event on campus and raise the most money in the nation.”

The University of Iowa currently holds the largest dance marathon in the country.

Woodin and Driscoll attend a meeting each year in order to generate ideas for marathons as well as keep in touch with their hospital contact Laura Wenmen, who gives them guidelines for running the event.

Dancing is not the only activity at the marathon. Speakers this year include ISU President Martin Jischke and families of cancer victims. Local band Mr. Plow is scheduled to perform, the Ballroom Dancing Club will give lessons and various games will be held throughout the night.

Marathon dancers are found everywhere in the community, and presentations are given at each residence hall and greek house by Molly Mathiasen, senior in speech communication and secondary education and recruitment coordinator, along with her staff of five students.

Mathiasen considers word of mouth her best recruitment tool. “Once you dance, you’ll never want to quit doing it,” she says.

Groups of 30 dancers stay on their feet for a solid 12 hours. If they aren’t dancing, then they’re playing games or keeping busy somehow, Mathiasen says. The dancers aren’t allowed to have caffeine, but each group is assigned a particular family to keep them inspired and on their feet. The groups also paint a banner to welcome their child to the event.

Each committee member agrees that the families are the most important part of the marathon.

Families director Kathy Lee, sophomore in early childhood education, acts as a liaison between CMN, the families and the marathon. Lee calls the children she helps her “kids” and tries not to lose sight of why she does what she does.

“I forget that the kids go through so much,” she explains. “It’s amazing to be able to help them and be there for them.”

The families CMN assists also get excited about the annual marathon. Bill and Laura Lawton of Reinbeck appreciate meeting other families who are going through the same thing they are and receiving their support.

The couple’s youngest son, 6-year old Shane, is in remission from a type of leukemia called A.L.L. The family has been involved with U of I’s marathon for two years and just became involved in ISU’s this year.

The entire family plans to attend on Sunday, and Bill will speak at the marathon. “Shane just enjoys everything, running around with the college kids and playing the games,” Laura says.

The families arrive the day before the marathon and are given a room at the Memorial Union for the night. Dance Marathon Publicity Director Justin Hoffman is responsible for arranging hotel rooms for the families and also ensures that information about the marathon is generated nationwide.

Hoffman worked for six months to contact all media outlets. “This year, we took the hometown approach and sent press releases to all newspapers in Iowa,” he says. Hoffman also hopes to get radio and TV stations involved and Wednesday, Dance Marathon organizers were interviewed on KASI radio.

Fund raising poses a big challenge for marathon participants, and several creative ideas have been used to collect money.

“Someone said they got $70 just from change they saved throughout the semester,” Hoffman said. Other fund-raising options participants used included standing outside of bars in Campustown, asking for donations form bargoers in a practice called “canning.”

“When I walked out of Cy’s Roost Wednesday night, they came over to me and asked for donations,” Hoffman adds. “Even though I was a participant in the event, I gave them some money because their speech was so convincing.”

Hoffman estimates that contributions so far have reached somewhere between $50,000 and $80,000 and, hopefully, will go beyond the $75,000 goal.

Participation in the marathon is not limited to ISU students. Anyone who wishes to volunteer or dance is welcome. And if a person is without a team, he or she will be assigned to one.

Committee members encourage everyone in Iowa to get involved. “After the first event, I knew I wanted to apply for co-chair,” Woodin says. “I’ve been involved in a lot of things, but this is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done at ISU for sure.”