Dance Marathon at Iowa State is geared up for another semester of raising money for the Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City with its Big Event at the Memorial Union this Saturday.
The Big Event is Dance Marathon’s largest fundraising effort of the year, and in 2025 over $145,000 was raised at the 12-hour event. Families in the Ames area are invited to attend, and as the name implies, there is a lot of dancing.
“Dance Marathon is the largest student-run philanthropic organization on campus, and we raise money for the Stead Family Children’s Hospital,” said Abbie Garlock, a junior in English education. “We do a lot of different outreach events to get donations, and we all independently fundraise.”
The donations raised go to the families in the hospital and to the hospital’s employees.
“Our goals are to support both the kids who are currently at the hospital as well as all of the hospital staff and faculty,” Garlock said. “We also partner with about 45 families that live in the Ames area, and we get to have a one-on-one relationship with them.”
Delaney Connors, a junior studying public relations, said the Miracle Maker meetings are among the organization’s main events.
“Once or twice a month, we do a Miracle Maker meeting,” Connors said. “A bunch of people come, and a family comes in and talks about their story or about their child. They make the dance marathon experience feel more meaningful.”
Connors works on the social media team and says she enjoys seeing all the interactions through the photos she takes.
“I interviewed to be a part of their social media team, and I ended up being a part of that last year and this year,” Connors said. “It was actually super fun to come take photos with all the kids and their families and seeing all of our members interact with the kids and families.”
Addy Wenzl, a senior studying genetics, is in her third year with the organization.
“I’ve been to the Big Event every year, but I haven’t really gotten to hang out with the kids all that much,” Wenzl said. “Now I am a part of the family committee, and I am paired with a kid that I actually hung out with last year a little bit. It’s going to be nice for me to get to know them better and hopefully be a friendly face for them if they’re on campus again.”
The 2026 Big Event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 14 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. For more information on Dance Marathon at Iowa State, click the link here.
