Joshua Fry has served with Dance Marathon since high school after being diagnosed with cancer eight years ago.
“I was going through treatment at the hospital and one of the students from IU who was on their Dance Marathon team ... sat next to me,” said Fry, a fourth-year international business and finance student. “She just kind of pumped me up to explore what Dance Marathon was really about at my own high school in a Mini Marathon.”
USC Dance Marathon has been fundraising for Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital Child Life program for 20 years. The program started with 300 students raising $55,000 in the Russell House Ballroom and has grown tremendously since.
“I have a personal tie with the hospitals," third-year electrical engineering student Ken Crawford said. "Someone in my family actually was part of the miracle hospital ... up in New Jersey. So, I actually got pretty passionate about it last year ... just hearing all the families.”
Children treated at the local Columbia children’s hospital are brought in to share their stories along with their families. They are called Miracle Children because Palmetto Health is working miracles saving the lives of children every day.
“It’s a huge impact on Ellington,” said parent Crystal Hewitt. “Not only just this day a year, but all year. How Dance Marathon really cares for her any time she goes for a procedure ... it's just something she looks forward to.”
While the money does not go directly to families of Miracle Children, it does directly impact them through Child Life. The Child Life program helps children who are dealing with fear and anxiety during their hospital stay among many other things.
“We feel a direct impact because Braden has to visit the children’s hospital on a regular basis,” said parent Brenda Green. “The funds that go to Child Life that helps distract what he's experiencing while at the hospital — it means a big deal to us. It kind of alleviates some of the stress that he endures.”
Child Life is a program in many children’s hospitals across America. The program helps make every hospitalization, no matter the duration, more enjoyable and peaceful during times of stress.
“We come to share stories that we have from working with the kids to help encourage them to fundraise more,” said Grace Goodwin, a Child Life specialist. “We bring a lot of the tools that we use with the kids to educate them about procedures or different scans.”
Hours upon hours are put in behind the scenes in order for Dance Marathon Main Event to take place. Fundraising began during the fall semester when different organizations got involved and students started registering.
“I think that no matter what you do ... what you put into it is what you'll get out of it,” second-year biochemistry student Lenda Thompson said. “Putting your heart and soul into staff is so worth it ... It may seem hard at first and it may seem like a lot of time, but you'll never regret it and you'll only regret not doing it.”
One part of the Main Event is the Morale Team, which teaches the participants the line dance and gets them excited about the event. This was Crawford's first time on the Morale Team. He was ready to serve in a new way.
“Our biggest thing is sort of hyping up our heroes. Our heroes are our registered participants from other organizations ... individuals wanting to help with this cause,” Crawford said.
A major part of the 20th anniversary of USC Dance Marathon was working towards the fundraising goal of $1,000,000. In 2017, $703,289 was raised over a period of 14 hours.
“Some people told us this wasn’t possible, that jumping $300,000 was literally insane ... but we knew our campus, we knew that this was the right time,” said Jax Boucher, fourth-year psychology student and president of Dance Marathon.
A jump of nearly $300,000 seemed drastic, but the increase in participants to over 2,000 boosted fundraising efforts. Even though the goal was tremendous, excitement paralleled it on the part of participants, staff, Morale Team and Miracle Children.
“It’s a big goal, but we always say on the Morale Team, ‘If your goals don’t scare you, are they really high enough?’ Crawford said. "So it just gives us that extra push to do the most that we can. $1,000,000 is huge, and I’m going to be so excited whenever we reach that at the end of the night."
At 11:45 p.m. the staff flipped over the signs revealing the grand total of $1,025,171, which brought on a rush of enthusiasm from the participants.
“Most of the year we weren’t on track, and it was really scary,” Thompson said. “It was also super inspiring, not just for DM but for every other part of life ... it seems somewhat impossible, but with everyone’s passion you knew that it was gonna happen.”
This $1,000,000 is not the end of the journey. Dance Marathon will continue to raise more money to ensure that Palmetto Health can continue making miracles happen.
“A million dollar goal is laying the groundwork for the future,” said second-year public health student Tanner Sutter.
After the fundraising goal was reached, participants were eager to share their experience. With just over 2,300 participants known as heroes at the Main Event, excitement permeated the atmosphere.
“The event itself is always the best part," Fry said. "Being able to see all your hard work come to fruition is something that’s just magical.”