Dancing may seem unimportant, but the Ball State University Dance Marathon turns dancing into saving lives.
For that reason, greek life is giving up their events — including parties and socials — for the weekend as part of their new bylaw in support of the marathon. Some chapters have even made it mandatory to attend the event, said Allie Stanley, who works as the director of dancer relations.
"It's really nice to see how much [families from Riley Hospital for Children] appreciate the fact that college kids are giving up their Saturday night in order to come help Riley Hospital," Stanley, a sophomore social work major, said.
The marathon, which will be at the Ball Gymnasium from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., on Saturday, aims to donate $60,000 to Riley Hospital's Magic Castle Cart and Palliative Care program.
The Magic Castle Cart is unique to Riley. It carries toys and other fun activities to the children in the hospital's care.
The Palliative Care program is new to the hospital and is a program that helps families who have just lost a child. Due to BSUDM raising more than $39,000 last year with just less than 400 registered dancers, the committee said they decided to donate to the new program, as well.
Registration costs $25, the same amount a memory box costs the hospital for families in the Palliative Care program.
"It kind of puts it in perspective what a small amount can do," Stanley said.
BSUDM has only been a campus-wide event for four years. Two years ago, the marathon only had around 250 registered dancers and so far, this year they have 719 registered dancers. Despite the quick growth and amount of people, it is still a relatively small event compared to Indiana University's marathon, which has been around for 21 years.
"We visited the IUDM," Stanley said. "They're on such different levels. ... I think that because ours is on a smaller level, we are able to connect with the families on a much more personal level. My hope is that we can keep going as long as IU and Purdue."
Getting to know the Riley families is the main reason Stanley said she decided to get so involved with the Dance Marathon after attending last year's as a dancer.
"I had heard about the Dance Marathon through a friend, and my brother is actually a Riley kid; so when I heard what the money went to, I knew I wanted to be a dancer," Stanley said. "And just experiencing the marathon as a dancer — it is so powerful. I was bawling the entire time; I could not stop crying. I knew that I wanted to get to know these families better, and I knew that I wanted to help them in any way I could."
Senior public relations major Kate Burnett said she also fell in love with the marathon as a registered dancer last year.
"Once I was there, I was really inspired by the stories of the family and I decided I need to get involved in a bigger way," Burnett said. "It was one of the most inspirational nights in my college career."
She said her main focus since March has become raising awareness among students, especially through social media outlets as BSUDM's director of public relations.
"I think it's really good for students to get involved in philanthropy in college," Burnett said. "I'm a big believer in giving back to the community. In Indiana, the work that Riley does is so special; it's just a very unique place. You never know, my kids someday might need to go to Riley. It's ‘giving forward,' I like to call it, kind of investing in the community."
Riley serves as the state's only Children's Miracle Network hospital, helping more than 350,000 children a year, according to RileyKids.org. In addition to acting as a clinical hospital, Riley also is a research hospital and the state's only pediatric teaching hospital.
"There's no way you can hate it." Stanley said. "I encourage everyone to experience the Dance Marathon at least once."
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