Dance Marathon raises record-breaking funds

To view collections of photos taken during the event, click here and visit the Targum Multimedia Facebook page.

 

Everyone knows 24 hours make up a day, but for the volunteers of Dance Marathon, 32 hours can change a life. For first-time dancers like Kimberly Difranco, the idea of dancing for 32 hours was really exciting.

“This is all for an amazing cause and a great organization,” said Difranco, a School of Arts and Sciences senior. “I volunteered last year, and this year I wanted to get more involved.”

Difranco was among the first 10 dancers to hit their minimum goal of $350. Her group raised money for a little girl who they had the opportunity to spend time with at the end of the marathon.

Dance Marathon celebrated its 15th year anniversary Saturday in the College Avenue Gymnasium, with the main theme of “Kids at Heart,” said Danielle Rossi, director of community outreach for the marathon. Although the event had one main theme, portions of the day were also themed to keep dancers engaged for the whole 32 hours.

“We had over 600 dancers register for this years event, more than we have ever had before,” said Rossi, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “This year we wanted to go bigger and better, and I think our [main] theme, ‘Kids at Heart, is our best one yet.”

Last year, Dance Marathon raised a total of $442,075. This year, they raised a record-breaking $503,641.77.

 

 

Over the past 14 years, Dance Marathon has raised over $3.1 million.

Rossi said this year’s Dance Marathon had a lot of innovation going into it, as it was not only the 15-year anniversary, but the event also celebrated Rudy Marathon’s — the Dance Marathon mascot — 15th birthday by throwing a large party for him.

For some dancers like Mark Sharp, assistant manager for Student Life, the event seemed like one giant party. His team consisted of himself and Matt Ferguson, associate director for Student Life. Together, they managed to raise $8,400.

“I was inspired by [someone] I went to high school with to get involved and form a team for this year’s Dance Marathon,” Sharp said. “My colleague Matt and I are the first faculty to participate in Dance Marathon. Next year we hope to put together a bigger team.”

Sharp said while he may be older than most of the participants, it did not stop him from keeping his energy up and standing the entire time.

“The hardest part has been staying on my feet for the entire 32 hours,” he said. “But I have not sat down once, and I feel like I still have more energy than some of the other dancers.”

Some of the biggest inspiration Sharp said he saw came from students who were not forced to be at the marathon by an organization, but from those who were there on their own accord.

For returning dancers like Neil Stocco, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, this year’s Dance Marathon seemed to have a much bigger turnout than ever before.

“There are a lot more people this year, more dancers, and it just seems more overwhelming,” Stocco said. “After dancing last year, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be doing it again this year.”

Stocco said his favorite part of the entire event is the family hour, when the families who have been supported by the various organizations involved with the marathon come out on stage and give speeches about how they have been affected by the event.

“Family hour is great, because you actually see where the money raised is going,” he said. “Last year, another brother and myself were the only two to come here, this year we have a team of eight, so it is growing.”

Guidebook integration

One of the biggest changes that made this year different from last year was the integration of Guidebook, a scheduling phone application, Stocco said. It was much easier to just pull out your phone and see what was coming up instead of flipping through a packet.

William Schlosser, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, enjoyed engaging with the dancers at the event.

While it may have been his first time at the event, he was not looking to just be a dancer, and instead jumped right into the role of “Morale Captain.”

Schlosser was constantly found on stage helping lead the dancers on the main floor in choreographing the theme song for the marathon — a mash-up of current pop songs.

“I had heard that Dance Marathon was a lot of fun, so I decided to get involved,” he said. “One of the associate directors said it was a lot of fun, so I decided to do it.”

Alternate donations

Along with donating and collecting funds for the Embrace Kids Foundation, dancers could donate in other ways. During the 32 hours Smiles for Shira swabbed mouths looking for bone marrow donors, and Sparks Hair Design collected hair donations.

Eleven students lined up to donate hair, including Jake Spoone and his brother Josh, who both donated for kids with cancer. Jake Spoone, a University alumnus, said he has participated in the previous three years and grew his hair out specifically for this event.

“My hair looks great on me, but it will look even better on a kid with cancer,” Jake Spoone said.

Josh Spoone, a graduate of Raritan Valley Community College, said he cuts his hair once a year and decided this year it would go to charity. Josh Spoone heard of Dance Marathon through his brother and was excited to be a part of the event.

“I’m not normally good in front of people,” he said. “Surprisingly, getting my hair cut on stage made it much more fun. It was great seeing the reactions of the people watching.”

Jake Spoone said he was glad to be a part of the state’s largest student-run philanthropic event and looks forward to coming back next year.

Past, present and future

This year, organizers wanted to highlight kids and the event’s previous accomplishments, said Diana Ferrante, director of entertainment for Dance Marathon.

Ferrante, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said once the marathon ends, organizers start working on plans for the next year right away.

Organizers chose the main theme so the dancers can relive their childhoods and the children who are battling cancer can have a day to enjoy theirs.

“We created six themes for the day that highlighted different points of our childhood, from games to prom,” Ferrante said. “We thought of our favorite parts of growing up and knew we needed to include toys, recess and sports.”

Besides the themes, Ferrante said incorporating social media has become a large part of the event. The hashtag #RUDM2013 was highlighted all night, as participants’ Tweets, Instagram photos, Facebook statuses and Vine videos used the tag.

“Last year was big with social media,” she said. “We have seen an improvement on social media and want to get the word out there.”

The event also encouraged dancers to use #Rutgers on Twitter to highlight the positive aspects of the University in light of the bad press from the Mike Rice scandal, Ferrante said.

“When people look at Rutgers, they should look at our leadership. [Events like] this are what we are all about,” she said. “People should recognize this student-run event instead of stressing over the negative events this past week. This is the definition of Rutgers.”

One of the more formal parts of the night, themed “90’s Prom Night,” featured Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 video game consoles, as well as a band aptly named “Nine Deeez Nite.”

Dancers changed into dresses and suits and danced as the band played top ‘90s hits like Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” and Haddaway’s “What is Love (Baby Don’t Hurt Me).”

Dance Marathon transformed into a nightclub at midnight, called “Club DM,” and allowed outside visitors to come in for a $10 donation to dance, Rossi said.

From midnight until 3 a.m., visitors danced to house music as the lights turned down and the gym became reminiscent of a nightclub. As each song transitioned into the next, the crowd swayed to the rhythm, mimicking tall grass moving in the wind.

The event wound down after “Club DM,” as guests left and dancers moved on to the sporting event of the night — playing video games and board games while still on their feet. As the morning continued, dancers ate breakfast and gained a second wind. By noon, dancers were moving and dancing again.

RU4kids

Families met with various groups, including greek life organizations that have supported and worked with them for the past year as part of the RU4KIDS initiative.

RUDM created the RU4Kids program, said Andrea Poppiti, constituent liaison for recruitment for RUDM, which matches patients with student organizations and allows the organizations to help provide support for families.

Poppiti, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said students visit the kids at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and allow their parents to have time to themselves.

Members of greek life wore T-Shirts supporting the kids they sponsored, with everything from encouraging messages to hashtags. Marcus Flores and Paul Myron, of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, said they wore simple T-Shirts that read #JoeyStrong to support the child they met through RU4KIDS.

Flores, an Ernest Mario School Of Pharmacy sophomore, said helping support a child and his family was a rewarding experience.

Myron, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said this year’s Dance Marathon was his first, and the experience was tremendous.

“It’s one thing to work for and donate to a name,” he said. “It’s another thing to build a relationship with the family and child and be able to help them out.”

Members of the Phi Delta Chi fraternity sponsored Jackie Balavram, a high school sophomore who suffers from stage-three Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said Amanda Lowney, an Ernest Mario School Of Pharmacy first-year student. The personal aspect of meeting and being a part of the kids’ lives is what makes the students passionate.

“It’s really great to have her come out and see what we are doing,” Lowney said. “She is having a great time, making jokes and hanging out with us.”

Sheilah Balavaram and Steven Balavram, Jackie Balavram’s parents, said the experience with the fraternity has been unbelievable.

“We have always been big supporters of Rutgers,” Sheilah Balavram said. “The students have done all this hard work and we just want to thank them for it.”

Jackie Balavram said she enjoyed hanging out with the students who visited her in the hospital and spent time with her over the past year.

“They are all my friends, and it’s great that I can come out and see them,” Jackie Balavram said.

Nidhi Parekh, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said the fraternity Alpha Phi Omega stayed on their feet for the entire 32 hours in support of their kid, Andre Brown.

“Andre is such a great person, and he is so much fun to be around,” she said. “He is always in great spirits every time we see him.”

As Dance Marathon drew to a close, dancers and supporters were emotional and looking forward to the closing ceremonies.

Before the total was announced, Matt Mednick, director of finance for Dance Marathon, announced the top fundraisers from each of the different groups. Included was a mention of a non-greek group which was created specifically for fundraising for Dance Marathon.

“Carpe DM, a new group whose name is a play on words for ‘seize the day,’ raised $24,779 in their first year,” Mednick, a Business School junior said. “The overall group was the sorority Phi Sigma Sigma, who raised $42,660.”

The social fraternity Chi Psi raised a total of $36,107, Mednick said. The top professional fraternity, Alpha Zeta Omega, raised $13,082.

A cumulative “ahh” was heard when dancers relaxed and were able to sit down. Thirty-two hours after they started dancing to change lives, students were finally able to go home and get some much needed rest.