Students reach $1M goal at dance marathon

There were just as many tears as laughs Sunday morning as IU Dance Marathon raised more than $1 million for Riley Children’s Hospital, with students, volunteers, patients and parents dancing to a tune of $1,041,197.20.\nThe Dance Marathon, which was held in the Wildermuth Intramural Center at the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building, is an annual 36-hour event concluding IUDM’s fundraising efforts for Riley Children’s Hospital and commemorating former patient Ryan White.\nAt the event, dancers stood for 36 hours without sleep to help raise awareness and funds for Riley Children’s Hospital’s Infectious Disease Center.\n“Everybody’s crying right now,” said junior Rachel Hartz. “But it’s awesome… It’s so many good things.”\nAfter 36 hours without sleep, sophomore dancer Andrea Costin remained upbeat.\n“I’m exhausted, obviously,” Costin said. “But it’s obviously really worth it – knowing that you can make a difference in one kid’s life.”\nIU President Michael McRobbie said in his speech to the crowd Saturday that many cultures judge the “healthiness” of its society by how it treats its children.\n“By contributing your time, your effort, your lack of sleep to IU Dance Marathon, you’ve shown this is a very healthy society indeed,” McRobbie said.\nThe more than $1 million raised for Riley caused a mixture of sobs and laughter amongst the crowd. But everyone agreed that even though $1 million was the goal, it was still a shock to see it realized.\n“I think (Riley) is going to be absolutely ecstatic,” said senior Megan Frieburg, IUDM alumni relations chair. “I just think they’re going to be absolutely floored.”\nPatients’ parents were ecstatic about the potential uses for $1 million for the hospital.\n“It’s pretty overwhelming,” said Rick Abbott, a Riley parent. “It just amazes me that people get together and do something like this.”\nAbbott said his involvement with IUDM stems from his son Daniel’s experiences at Riley Children’s Hospital.\nDaniel, who will turn 6 in one month, just celebrated his 5-year anniversary at Riley.\n“Daniel’s kind of a celebrity there because no one thinks he should still be alive,” Abbott said. \nAs Daniel ran to chase a huge blue ball around the gym, Abbott laughed.\n“He’s got a lot of life in him,” he said.\nAbbott said Riley has “doctored” Daniel through a life-threatening infectious disease and a stroke. He said he “really appreciated that people care enough about (Riley) and kids like (his) to do something.”\nTwirling with two of her three sons was IU alum Lara DePoy. \nDePoy participated in Dance Marathon in the 90s when she was a student. Because her son Jackson, age 6, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at Riley, she said her participation in IUDM now is “bittersweet.”\n“It’s kind of been a life-changing moment,” DePoy said. “It’s the spirit of the campus and the spirit of youthfulness. (Riley) is a cause that can really capture and take hold.”\nParents of Riley patients were impressed with the dedication of the IUDM volunteers.\n“I think more than anything (IUDM) is just an awareness (that) these kids aren’t any different from any other kids,” DePoy said. “It’s great to see the community support.”\nAs for the dancers and volunteers, plans for next year were put off for one short-term goal they all had in mind: “sleep.”\nCostin said although she was planning to spend the rest of her weekend napping, she would be sleeping with a better peace of mind.\n“We can sleep off the pain,” Costin said. “But (the Riley kids) can’t.”