By Suamya Chopra, news correspondent
Northeastern students took to the dance floor last Saturday in support of Boston Children’s Hospital at the school’s first ever dance marathon.
The marathon was organized by the Northeastern University Dance Marathon (NUDM) organization, which was formed eight months ago and consists of 11 executive board (e-board) members who have been planning this event since last July.
“Northeastern’s first dance marathon did such a great job at fundraising,” said Rachel Wojnas, sophomore speech therapy and audiology major. “But it also raised awareness for students who might otherwise not know about the work that hospitals like Children’s do.”
From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Northeastern’s fraternities, sororities and other student organizations attended NUDM. There were around 35 registered teams and a total of 233 participants who were at the event. The marathon aimed to raise $20,000 for the Boston Children’s Hospital and raised $13,080.01. The event also raised awareness for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, an organization which raises funds for children’s hospitals throughout the United States and Canada.
During the marathon, participants danced, interacted with families and children from the hospital, got their faces painted and ate food from Symphony Whole Foods and Amelia’s Taqueria.
Other activities included performances from Northeastern’s dance teams and a “rave hour” with Northeastern’s Spinning Arts Club. Open to all students for a $5 donation, participants danced to music provided by the Electronic Dance Music at Northeastern University (EDMNU) club. Additionally, participants learned choreography dance throughout the day, which was performed before the final total was revealed.
Those not present at the event could still donate and track the progress of teams through NUDM’s Facebook page and website. Participants were urged throughout the event to call friends and family and ask for additional donations. Updates on these fundraising efforts were announced throughout the course of the event by Meredith Mimoso, communications director, and Alexandra O’Connor, public relations director, and were met with cheers. Both of the e-board members were pleased with the event.
“A ton of people showed up and we also got a lot of volunteer applications,” O’Conner, a senior marketing major, said.
NUDM received around 100 applications from prospective volunteers for the marathon and both Mimoso and O’Conner were pleased with the turnout for NUDM’s first event.
The e-board from NUDM met with a group of 11 patients who shared their stories after hearing about the event through Boston Children’s Hospital. Seven of the children: Evan, Joey, Brooke, Sarah, Emily, Hanz and Griffin, were present at the marathon. The patients spent their day meeting marathon participants, getting their faces painted, and meeting fairy tale characters Snow White and her prince.
“[Brooke] is enjoying it,” Julie DiBona said.
Brooke, Julie DiBona’s daughter, is 11 years old and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in 2010. Brooke is currently in remission after undergoing a bone marrow transplant and was in high spirits on Saturday.
“They’re doing a great job, everyone is up-beat and dancing, getting along with the kids and helping us feel comfortable,” DiBona said.
Over the course of the day, parents of the patients had a chance to share the stories of their families’ experiences with Boston Children’s Hospital. Accompanied by pictures of their children fighting off disease, these parents spoke highly of the hospital’s attentive staff, open and inclusive doctor-parent communications and the encouragement they were given to advocate for their child.
Participants were all enjoying the event and many agreed that it felt good to be doing something for a good cause. Students enjoyed interacting and meeting the children.
“Meeting the kids was so much fun, and was definitely a major motivator to come back next year and work harder to raise even more money,” Wojnas said.
At the end of the day, the top two teams were the e-board, who raised $4,348, and the team Hoffboyz II Hoffmen who raised $2,776 out of the total $13,080.01.
NUDM plans to make the marathon an annual event, and to hold other events throughout the year to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. Though they haven’t reached their goal yet, if they do raise $20,000, Northeastern will be the first school in Boston to make a donation that large. Donations are being accepted through the organization’s website, dancemarathon.com, until Jan. 31.
Photo by Brian Bae
