The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Dance Marathon hikes $ goal

FILE+-+A+Dance+Marathon+family+member+carries+an+FTK+sign+during+the+first+hour+of+the+Big+Event+in+the+IMU+on+Feb.+6%2C+2015.+This+is+Dance+Marathons+21st+Big+Event+at+UI.+%28The+Daily+Iowan%2Ffile%29
FILE – A Dance Marathon family member carries an FTK sign during the first hour of the Big Event in the IMU on Feb. 6, 2015. This is Dance Marathon’s 21st Big Event at UI. (The Daily Iowan/file)

By Anis Shakirah Mohd Muslimin
[email protected]

Dance Marathon hopes to reach even greater fundraising heights for the kids.

The University of Iowa Dance Marathon committee recently announced a fundraising goal for the February 2016 event of $2.4 million, a 20 percent increase over the $2 million raised in 2015.

The concept is a nationwide movement involving college and high-school students at more than 250 schools across the country, all raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Since its establishment in 1994, UI Dance Marathon has raised $16.5 million for pediatric cancer patients and their families at the UI Children’s Hospital.

“For the past couple of years, we have not set a public goal, and this year we decided that we do want to set a public goal,” said Dan Kolb, the executive director of UI Dance Marathon.

Many factors contributed to the latest fundraising goal, he said, including a motivation to get people excited about this year’s event.

“Not just the students, not just faculty, it’s everybody on campus, so by setting a goal we hope everybody will feel a part of Dance Marathon,” he said.

Taryn Kuntz, the executive director of development at the UI Children’s Hospital, said the increased fundraising goal is compelling.

“They announced their goal on [Sept. 25], which was really exciting, and we look forward to hearing of their success,” she said.

To help reach that amount, the fundraising minimum to participate in the main dance event in February has gone up from $400 to $500 this year, Kolb said.

Dance Marathon has also started a program to increase collaboration with student organizations across campus, he said.

“Just having that motivation of the [new] Children’s Hospital that’s being built and just having and extremely strong Dance Marathon family here on campus, and with those things, we feel we can hit it,” Kolb said.

Sheila Baldwin, the vice president of health sciences development at the UI Foundation, said millions raised from the event have gone toward building the new UI Children’s Hospital and toward the creation of the UI Dance Marathon Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Laboratories.

She also said that every year, Dance Marathon supports projects related to pediatric cancer research, nursing support, child life services for pediatric cancer patients, pediatric hematology and oncology fellowships, and so on.

The funds from Dance Marathon also help pay off other costs that are associated with pediatric cancer patients, including parking passes and gas cards.

Financial support is not the only kind Dance Marathon provides for patients, Baldwin said.

“In addition to the money they raise, UI Dance Marathon students provide emotional support to our pediatric patients and their families,” she said.

Dance Marathon participants are present at the hospital on a weekly basis to do activities with the patients, Baldwin said.

“They host events and outings for families in order to take their mind off the fact that they have a child battling cancer,” she said.

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