Dancing to Make a Difference

Saturday had all the makings of a great University of Oregon sporting event: The cheerleaders and dance team showed off their routines; Donald Duck waddled around, pumping people up; and hundreds of jumping and cheering students were decked out in green for hours. However, when these students left they knew they had helped win something more than a game; they had helped save the lives of countless children.

On the Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008, the Erb Memorial Union Ballroom played host to its second annual Dance Marathon event. Over 400 students showed up to dance for 15 hours. Students were on their feet the whole time, including standing through their lunch, dinner and a couple snack breaks.

Together these dancers raised over $31,000 for Oregon Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Portland’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Students participated in a letter-writing campaign before the event to get friends and family to donate money to CMN.

“Being a part of something like Dance Marathon is such a rewarding experience because you know that you are doing something to make a difference. Every time a family speaks, you just realize that any pain your body might be feeling is insignificant in comparison to what these families have gone through,” said University of Oregon sophomore Kate Flowers.

From 9 a.m. to midnight, the EMU Ballroom became a mix of a high school dance and a playground. Hundreds of students danced together and played games such as Red Light, Green Light and Limbo to keep them entertained and thinking about anything -more-

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but their tiring feet and bodies.

Tennis shoes screeched as dancers pulled out the classic moves, from the Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to Soulja Boy’s “Superman.” Green shirts moved together in small circles of teams and mosh pits, as dancers tried to show off their skills while maintaining energy to last the grueling 15 hours. Music filled the ballroom and seemed

to pull everything along with it; from the flashing and flickering rainbow of lights to the bouncing floorboards.

Among the limbo rope, balloon arch, blaring music and 400 dancing bodies, 19 banners adorned the walls of the EMU Ballroom. Carefully and caringly covered in colorful designs of popular children’s movies, shows and activities, each banner displayed a child’s name.

These children range in age from infants to teenagers, but they all have one thing in common; each was treated by a CMN Hospital for a life-threatening condition. CMN Hospitals operate through donations, such as those generated from Dance Marathon, to help provide expensive medical equipment and services. For example, a child brain MRI can cost $16,000.

Flowers, an avid UO sports fan added, “The camaraderie you feel during these 15 hours with other students is greater than anything I’ve felt at any UO sporting event. Of course, I’ll be at the basketball game on Saturday, but I’ll be sitting after all this dancing.” She and others will remember the game they left Saturday, the game of making a difference.

Kelsey Thompson is the co-director of sponsorship for Dance Marathon. She attends University of Oregon and studies public relations and business.

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