By Beau Bowman
@beauknows2
The Big Event is officially underway.
Dance Marathon is one of the biggest event on campus every year. For 24 hours, more than 2,600 dancers, 250 leadership members, 220 families, and 300 volunteers stand up for children with cancer.
This year marks the 22nd-annual Dance Marathon at the University of Iowa, and there’s no sign of slowing down.
At the beginning of the school year, UI students sign up for Dance Marathon and are assigned to a morale captain’s team, which represents a kid who has — or had — cancer.
Dancers made their way into the IMU at 6 p.m. Feb. 5 to prepare themselves for the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m.
The turnout has steadily increased over the years. The first Dance Marathon in 1994 supported 26 families and raised $31,000.
Since then, Dance Marathon has remembered 202 children who have lost their battle against cancer and raised more than $2 million the past couple of years.
UI junior Laura Davison, a third-year dancer, said people were cramming in to dance into the night and early morning.
“There are a lot more people here than last year,” she said. “It’s absolutely packed in there. There’s hardly any room to dance. There are a lot more families here this year, too, which is great.”
Many organizations provide volunteers for the event, including Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow.
Justin Le, a first-year volunteer from the group, said he hasn’t seen anything like Dance Marathon’s Big Event.
“It’s an awesome experience,” he said. “It’s great to see so many kids so happy. It’s amazing; I can’t put it any other way.”
John Hall, a member of the Hall family being honored at the event, has been a part of Dance Marathon for six years.
Through Dance Marathon, Hall said he started his own nonprofit organization, the Red Shamrock. Its primary goal is to raise awareness about what childhood cancer survivors face after cancer treatment.
“It’s wonderful,” Hall said. “It’s great to see everyone come together once a year to celebrate these kids.”
