This year, a new organization, Dance Marathon, is aiming to host a 24-hour dance marathon to raise money for children’s hospitals in the near future.

Dance Marathon is a student-led organization that supports the Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. Miracle Network Dance Marathon has raised more than $300 million collectively for over 170 local children’s hospitals while providing 32 million treatments to children each year, since 1991.

Due to COVID-19, a large event could not be held on campus, but that hasn’t stopped the Dance Marathon organization from holding smaller fundraisers. Their most recent fundraiser encouraged students to create a sweet 16 March Madness bracket and make a $5 donation to the Dance Marathon Organization for a chance to win a $50 All Star or Bull Run gift card. The person with the closest bracket will receive a gift card to a local restaurant.

“I choose to be part of Dance Marathon because I see it as a way to stage crazy events, hype people up and raise money for Children’s Miracle Network which are all important causes!” Miles Book ’23, a member of Dance Marathon and assistant organizer of the March Madness Bracket Fundraiser, said.

One of the upcoming fundraisers is a Dance Marathon Spirit Week which will be held from April 11-17. Each day of the week is designated to be one of the following themes: Monday Munchies, Team Tuesday, Wellness Wednesday, Teacher Thursday and Miracle Family Friday, with the big fundraising reveal on Saturday. Those who donate will be able to participate in the many activities, including the ability to pie a professor, or the ice bucket challenge. There will also be the opportunity to hear from local children who will be benefiting from the donations.

“We’re planning creative ways to get students excited about fundraising for our local children’s hospital. We want to bring this program to Bucknell to tap into the passion and spirit of this community and raise awareness for children’s health. In future years, we hope to expand our yearly program to involve more student groups on campus as well as host a traditional large event to celebrate all of the fundraising efforts from throughout the year. Anyone is encouraged to get involved or reach out with any questions!” April Hurlock ’23 said.

To get involved individuals can sign up on Donor Drive. Here participants can see how much they have raised and how much Dance Marathon at the University has raised collectively. Follow this link to get involved:

https://events.dancemarathon.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=4546