In the middle of the coronavirus, Terp Thon has been forced to adapt its annual 12-hour dance marathon to a virtual format while maintaining its traditions and goal of raising money for Children’s National Hospital, the area’s local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.
The dance marathon will be livestreamed over Twitch March 6 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a morning, afternoon and evening session and breaks and activities throughout the day, Terp Thon Executive Director Jackie Blair said.
“We’ll have something going on in our livestream for those entire 12 hours to really try to uphold that tradition of our 12-hour dance marathon,” Blair said.
Registration will be open until 10 p.m. on March 6, so students can register until the very end of the event, and there is no registration fee. Participants are encouraged to attend the entire event but can join and leave the livestream as needed.
Participants who raise at least $60 will receive a Terp Thon T-shirt, and participants who raise at least $120 will receive a package with bracelets, stickers and lights, Blair said.
Activities that will be livestreamed include a choreographed morale dance (a Terp Thon tradition), Zoom meetings with patients from Children’s National Hospital and a Miracle Kid Talent Show. Recorded messages from University of Maryland President Darryll Pines, head football coach Mike Locksley and other university organizations will also be part of the stream, according to Terp Thon Public Relations Chair Jake Maggid.
“We have activities all throughout the day in order to make sure that if you want to be a part, there’s always something you can do to really feel a part of Terp Thon,” Maggid said.
All participants, donors and patients at Children’s National Hospital will have access to the livestream, making it easier for people outside College Park to participate and see the benefits of the fundraiser, according to Maggid.
“Now, [donors] can really see what their donations have gone toward,” Maggid said.
Even with the benefit of increased accessibility, converting the event to an online format has been difficult, Blair said. Finding a streaming platform with copyright laws that wouldn’t limit the event was a challenge.
Another challenge has been registration for the event, Blair said.
Terp Thon usually relies on their physical presence on campus to encourage people to register, but the organization has only been able to use social media and emails to reach out to students this year.
“We also know that college students tend to procrastinate … So, we’re definitely hoping for, and thinking that we will see a surge in our registration numbers in these coming weeks,” Blair said.
Even with all the challenges they’ve faced, Terp Thon organizers believe the fundraiser is still worth it.
“Hospitals have not stopped, and the need for donations to be able to pay for different equipment and services to provide children is always prevalent, no matter if we’re in a pandemic or not,” Maggid said.
Overall, the organization has tried to keep track of their mission throughout the year, Blair said.
“Really our biggest goal, and really what’s driving all of us in creating this event, is creating that difference for Children’s National Hospital,” Blair said. “And every single person that registers, whether they fundraise $0, or they fundraise $500 is really helping us make that difference.”