Dance Marathon participants did a morale dance each hour, led by morale captains dressed up for the hour's theme. Participants were not allowed to sit down during the eight-hour event on Saturday. Photo by Amanda Gahler
TEALA KRAPFL STAFF WRITER
Nearly 120 students and local families gathered in Levick Arena for eight hours Saturday without sitting down.
Wartburg’s first Dance Marathon took place from 3 to 11 p.m. and raised $11,214.31 for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.
Signs posted around “The W” motivated participants with sayings such as “remember why you’re standing” and “it’s all for the kids.”
Music, video games, board games and hula-hoops were provided to keep students, children and parents moving.
At the beginning of the event, seven morale captains taught participants the morale dance, an energetic dance to a mix of upbeat songs. The morale dance ended with the participants cheering, “One Knight can change a life,” the theme of the event.
Morale captains kicked off each hour with costumes reflecting the hour’s theme. They led the crowd in the morale dance at the top of each hour.
Local families with children who have received treatment at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital were invited to participate in the event and to share their story with the crowd.
AmyTucker, a morale captain, has dealt closely with cancer in her own family, thinks Dance Marathon is a worthy cause.
“I think it’s awesome they bring in the kids and families,” Tucker said. “It really benefits the children.”
Megan Thompson enjoyed seeing the faces of the children she helped raise money for.
After learning about Dance Marathon from a friend, Thompson was eager to contribute to the cause.
“Even though eight hours is a long time to stand up, it doesn’t even compare to what these children have to go through,” she said.
Thompson’s favorite part of the event was watching the kids have fun.
Posters telling the families’ stories lined the gym wall. Many of the faces from the posters were seen dancing, playing games and just being kids.
“Emma loves it,” Lisa Eberline said. Her daughter was born premature and weighed less than two pounds.
Emma, now 5 years old, was at the event, dancing and doing the limbo with other children and college students.
“You don’t realize everything a hospital does until you have to go there,” Eberline said. “It’s important to support a hospital that provides such great services.”
The money raised from the marathon will be used by Children’s Miracle Network to create a comfortable atmosphere for children and families who often must spend extended periods of time at the hospital, located in Iowa City.
Molly Greene, Wartburg Dance Marathon executive director, likes the fact that the money raised is “letting those kids be kids.”
This was the first Dance Marathon Wartburg has hosted, and Greene said she was excited to see the turnout.
“I think it’s definitely a success,” Greene said. “It’s more than we could ever ask for.”
Greene hopes to see Dance Marathon become a yearly tradition at Wartburg.
“It will hopefully be around for years to come,” she said.