More than 450 University of Wisconsin students and Madison community members strapped on their dancing shoes to help raise money for the American Family Children’s Hospital at the second annual Wisconsin Dance Marathon this weekend.
Directed by the Wisconsin Dance Marathon student organization, this year’s marathon took place at the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center from 7 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday.
Through pledges and donations, the marathon was able to raise a total of $80,433, which greatly exceeds last year’s total of just over $56,000.
“All of the members of the executive board were so pleased with the amount we were able to raise, and the moment we revealed the total was quite emotional,” Wisconsin Dance Marathon Public Relations Chair Emily Kesner said.
Most of the participants raised $100 each through the collection of pledges, but more than 100 students and community members also took advantage of the nightly promotion, which allowed a dancer to pay $20 for two hours of participation in the marathon.
Some groups, such as the community service organization in Ogg Hall, raised money through coordination of various bake sales and penny wars within their residence halls.
“We felt strongly in support of this cause because it allows students to connect with people in need outside their residence life community,” UW senior and Wisconsin Dance Marathon participant Kelly Eickert said.
Many of the child patients who will benefit from the donations attended a few hours of the night’s festivities and also returned in the morning for a hot breakfast with the student participants.
“The marathon is a great event because students don’t usually get to experience what is outside their campus bubble, but here, they can interact with children of the community,” Co-Director of Wisconsin Dance Marathon and UW senior Nikki Rupe said.
Both the children and student participants had access to a family area full of games, a moon bounce and free food from local businesses.
They were also entertained with performances by local dance crews such as Hypnotiq and were taught various steps of a line dance during the night.
By bringing together UW students and faculty, high school students, community members and the children, the event and its activities were able to bridge the various gaps within the greater community, Co-Director of Wisconsin Dance Marathon and UW senior Adam Wallenfang said.
Several raffle prizes were also given away throughout the night, including a grand prize, which was a plane ticket from Chicago to London.
Later this week, the Wisconsin Dance Marathon leadership committee will discuss which specific hospital activities the money will support.
The organization hopes to continue a practice they began last year, which consists of using a portion of the funds to provide weekly dinners in the hospital lobby for the patients and their families, Kesner said.
Kesner added after a second successful year, the organization is setting great standards for the future and is laying the groundwork to ensure that one day, Wisconsin Dance Marathon will be a true institution at UW.
