Pop music consumed the Great Hall of the Memorial Union as Dance Marathon held its 18^th annual fundraiser to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The event began at midnight on Jan. 24 and concluded at midnight on Jan. 25.

Dance Marathon is a student organization that provides year-round support to youth at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital and their families. Students, volunteers and families participate in several forms of entertainment while standing on their feet and dancing for hours at a time.

Students who fundraise and dance at the event spend the year learning leadership skills while interacting with a miracle child and their family.

Several activities were hosted to keep the families, volunteers and children busy. A few of these activities included beanbag toss, talent show, a hypnotist, laser tag, four square, a fashion show and of course dancing. The primary goal of these activities was to raise additional money for children at UI Children’s hospital and to educate and raise awareness in the community.  

Participants wore different colored T-shirts to represent their role at the event. Blue was for the dancers, yellow for families, red for the families committee, black for operations, light blue for alumni, mint-green for recruitment and dancer relations, purple for business relations and white for executives. This year, Dance Marathon hosted a Disney-themed event.

Student dancers volunteer for Dance Marathon to connect with the kids and stay on their feet throughout the entire time. Several families attended the event to support each other and connect with other families that are going through similar situations.

A mother of two attended the event with her family— she and her family asked the Daily not use their names in concern for privacy. She thinks of her son as a happy 6-year-old boy who loves soccer, reading, science and rough housing with other little boys. However, that is not the only thing that consumes her mind.

Her son has been diagnosed with numerous issues throughout the years.

“One of the things that drew me to Dance Marathon was the fact that they supported, respected and appreciated children with special needs, and made them feel special for who they were and were able to help celebrate their unique qualities,” the mother said.

Dance Marathon has provided families with support and love they need to connect with other families at the event each year.

“My son has special food and medication he takes about five times a day. Thankfully, he has now graduated to doctors appointments every couple of months, instead of multiple times a week, which is so great,” she said.

Dance Marathon has been a significant part of numerous families’ lives. It has provided families with a support system like none other. Several families have connected with students from Dance Marathon.

The family has had more than 27 students from Dance Marathon come to their house to connect with their children. 

The family’s directors are in charge of keeping in touch with the children throughout the year. They notify families of different events throughout the year. Each family’s director is assigned to a specific miracle child and the day of Dance Marathon, that particular family’s director hangs out with that child throughout the entire day.

“I met the [family] two years ago, and it has been so cool getting to hangout with [the son’s] sister,” said Shannon Ure, senior in animal science who is one of the family directors.

There are over 250 colleges and high schools nation wide that participate in Dance Marathon of some sort to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.

“When I found out my son was diagnosed, I felt overwhelmed and lost, but also hopeful. Overwhelmed because many of his issues will be lifelong adaptations, but also hopeful because the medical providers at [the] University of Iowa are extremely knowledgeable,” the mother said.

Each family has a different story as to why they participate in Dance Marathon.

“This is our seventh year involved in Dance Marathon. I have a little eight-year-old girl with Down syndrome and heart issues. However, she looks forward to this event every year. After Christmas is over, she counts the days until Dance Marathon. It is very special and near and dear to her heart,” said Tessa Philips, a mother who had traveled from Davenport, Iowa to attend the event with her family.

Each hour there is a morale dance that signifies the start of each hour. The dance lasts about four-and-a-half minutes to get the children pumped up.

“I think my absolute favorite part of this event would be the last hour of the night. We call it power hour. When the clock strikes [10 p.m.], everyone is gathered in the same area dancing for the entire last hour, it’s so great to see everyone wrapping up another great year of Dance Marathon,” said Abby Farniok, sophomore in business.