The OCU branch of the Miracle Network’s national Dance Marathon hosted a push day on Nov. 7, raising more than $3,300.
“Miracle Marathon is our campus’s branch of the national movement Dance Marathon,” said Brooke Winegardner, dance management junior and director of hospital relations for the OCU Miracle Network branch. “Dance marathon is this movement that was started by college students, and they raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Basically, the dance marathon, as an event, is a celebration of a year of raising money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.”
Winegardner said her job is coordinating with the hospital involved in the OCU branch’s efforts and that any money raised in Oklahoma will remain in the state and benefit hospitals that are part of the CMNH network.
“And what’s cool about our campus is that we’re, like, 10 minutes away from a CMNH hospital, and that would be Oklahoma City Children’s Hospital,” she said.
Winegardner reaches out to the families and children on a regular basis who have been selected as Miracle Families, opting to share their stories.
The group’s push day involved a fundraising table from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside the Market at Alvin’s in the Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center. This was followed by a three-hour event from 8–11 p.m. outside the Great Hall that featured raffles, dancing and a portion of the Morale Dance.
“We film and we send it off to the kids and say ‘hey, we support you, we’re here for you, we’re cheering for you, and we’re raising money for you,’” said Ethan Zambrano, dance senior and director of event operations for the OCU Dance Marathon.
The original goal of the push day was $1,000. The day’s efforts raised a total of $3,388.36, according to the group’s Twitter account @MiracleMarathon.
The OCU branch’s Dance Marathon will be in April, hosted in the Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center. The event will last six hours.
Winegardner and Zambrano said the Morale Dance will be taught over the course of the event.
“So, if you come to all the events and you stay for the whole night, you’ll know the whole routine,” Winegardner said.
Zambrano said several of the top participating fundraising teams, which can be found on the group’s website, will get to assist in designing aspects of the Dance Marathon.
Fabius Bascon, acting freshman, said he was a member of the PR team and the captain of the School of Theater fundraising team.
“Essentially, what we have is, once you register, you sign up for a team, and the teams are basically to create a sort of competition so that you can have both an organization to join so that you feel like you’re a part of a group working towards a greater cause, and motivation to raise money for the event,” he said.
Teams include the various schools across campus, Greek life organizations and sports groups.
There will be a different theme for each hour of the dance marathon, and the top teams will get to assist in designing some of these themes and what fundraising events and “dares” will take place during them.
“So, for each level of money that we raise, we have people who will be signed up to do dares, so for instance, say we raise like, $2,000, I would shave my head,” Zambrano said.
Zambrano said this was likely to be a dare at the event, though the fundraising amount may differ.
In solidarity with the Miracle Children and Families, the event will not have chairs, Winegardner said.
“The whole thing is that you don’t sit, the whole time, because kids spend so much time laying in a bed. So, we stand for them, so there will be no chairs in the building at all,” she said.
Zambrano said registration for Miracle Marathon is still open, and the group appreciates texts or emails that spread the word. They are hoping for $62 donations per person, as this is the number of kids admitted to CMNH hospitals every minute, according to the network’s website.
The group is planning events and further fundraisers for the Spring semester, but there are no definite plans as of this time.
The OCU Dance Marathon will occur at 6 p.m. on April 5. More information is available at the group’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook profiles, which are under the name “OCU Miracle Marathon.”
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