Funds raised by Iowa State students at the March 29 Dance Marathon for the Children’s Miracle Network will be formally presented to the organization on public television Sunday during its annual weekend telethon.

The oversized check will be presented to representatives of the Children’s Miracle Network and the Children’s Hospital of Iowa in Iowa City on Iowa Public Television, broadcasted on channel 11 in the Des Moines and Ames areas during the 12:40 p.m. segment.

Dawn Wade and Andrew Peterson, Dance Marathon co-chairs, will appear on television with Brian Tenclinger, Iowa State greek affairs coordinator.

The dance marathon raised $18,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network.

“Our mission was to provide financial and emotional support to families facing childhood cancer,” Tenclinger said.

The first-ever dance marathon at ISU featured 10 hours of nonstop dancing.

The marathon benefited 15 families in central Iowa, all of whom were present at the March event.

“Those families were with us for all 10 hours,” Tenclinger said.

Besides the families, 180 dancers and 50 volunteers were present at the marathon.

Each dancer became part of a team and “adopted” a child living with cancer. The dancers engaged in some initial activities to make the children comfortable and then spent the entire day with their “adoptees.”

“What happened that day was magic,” Tenclinger said. “I have wonderful, wonderful warm fuzzy memories.”

The money raised will support a fund that benefits the families by helping with cancer treatments.

Tenclinger said one example of the support includes providing a hearing aid for a child who became deaf during chemotherapy treatments. He also said the fund helps a family financially when one parent quits working to stay with a sick child.

The goal of the marathon was to raise $10,000, and Tenclinger said he was “very pleased and pleasantly surprised” with the $18,000 they actually raised.

“It was wonderful for our first year,” he said.

The Dance Marathon was such a success that a date already has been set for a second marathon next spring.

Tenclinger said the goal for next year is to double everything — the number of families, the number of dancers and the amount of money raised.”Who knows if we’ll get there, but we’re going to try,” he said.