April 1 at 1:00 pm marks the kickoff for UMaine’s sixth annual Dance Marathon: a 12-hour dance marathon that raises money to support Eastern Maine Medical Center and the Children’s Miracle Network. Vice President of Promotions Taylor Dube says that “the overall goal of Dance Marathon is to make a celebration for kids who have overcome pediatric illness or suffered traumatic experiences. It’s a celebration of their accomplishments and of their health”. Throughout the past six years of Dance Marathon being a tradition at UMaine, the teams have raised over $200,000 for these amazing causes. This year they’ve raised around $40,000 so far with around 400 people signed up, ready to dance for a great cause.
At Dance Marathon this year, all the children benefitting from the event are coming to watch and are paired up with a dance team. The team accompanies the child to make their day amazing, taking them around to all the marathon has to offer. This year, there will be a bouncy house, laser tag, archery tag, Zumba, a DJ and carnival/lawn games to enjoy at the carnival-themed event. Miguel’s and OHOP are catering, along with carnival food like ice cream, snow cones, and lots of popcorn!
With an amazing event like this comes the amazing people that allow a dream to become a reality. Among these people is VP of Promotions Taylor Dube, who says “I got involved with Dance Marathon when one of my sorority sisters was on the committee and was about to be president. She convinced me to apply to committee, and I was elected as family relations. The position allowed me to get to know the families Dance Marathon helps and I completely fell in love. Now I’m Vice President of Promotions, which allows me to run social media, makes the t-shirts, make posters, and just be the overall public relations person of it. Side note, I’m only $40 away from my goal so any donations would be amazing.”
“The best experience I’ve had so far with Dance Marathon was I got the opportunity to attend a full paid leadership conference in Ohio to meet with other leaders to learn about how to make Dance Marathon the best it can be. I got to hear so many stories and testimonials about the kids and why people do what they do for it. I also go to tour the center that was built with the money Dance Marathon gives and it was amazing to get to see the handwork we’ve put in pay off first hand.”
If you want to help make this event a success, you can donate, volunteer, make a team, and spread the word to all of your families and friends. This event is so near and dear to the hearts of many within our community, and you truly can make a difference!
If you’re interesting in donating to this event or learning more, please visit the websites listed below!
https://events.dancemarathon.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1331
http://signupschedule.com/bodwellcenter
https://events.dancemarathon.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=207531
*Photos courtesy of Taylor Dube*