The fifth annual Dance Marathon (DM) raised nearly $45,000 to benefit the Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital as part of the Children’s Miracle Network, which aims to raise money to treat children fighting cancer. Hopkins community members danced for the cause in the Glass Pavilion from 6 p.m. on Saturday to 2 a.m. on Sunday.
Alec Stepanian, DM executive board member, explained exactly how the funds will be used.
“It’s for a children’s health and wellness specialist to come in over the weekends specifically to play with the kids and organize events and things of that nature. Currently, they only come in during the week,” Stepanian wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Dancers, including team fundraisers and “morale leaders,” charged with the task of motivating participants with a specially-choreographed dance number every hour, stayed on their feet for eight hours. Throughout the night, audio clips were played that told the stories of particular children whom the Hopkins Children’s Hospital had helped in their battles against cancer and other diseases.
Lala Grau, a junior, helped organize the events as co-vice president of this year’s DM, along with junior Sarah Xu. She said that DM has changed since its inception at Hopkins.
“I definitely think DM has changed over the years,” Grau said. “This is only the fifth year we’ve had DM. My freshman year was the first time we had more of the kid aspect. We actually had a Miracle Kid named Julia come in, and this year we have several Miracle Kids here. People are definitely more aware of what we’re doing on campus. People have been connecting a lot more to the cause. It’s really cool that Hopkins is catching on.”
Freshman participant Jose Solis was not a morale leader but appeared to be enthusiastic about the event. During each dance Solis kicked inflatable beach balls around to other participants and encouraged others to dance.
Although Solis did not mention a particular connection to Dance Marathon, he explained his belief in the universal importance of the event.
“I’m here to make a difference. It’s incredible how many things happen in the world that we’re not aware of or we take for granted. It’s amazing — there are people whose stories have not been heard, and people can help bring their story out,” Solis said. “Being here with other dancers you feel a sense of purpose in the atmosphere and in the air. People are here for an actual person. They’re dancing for someone who may have lost the fight.”
Alex Sivitskis, a member of Phi Delta Theta and a morale leader, spoke about some of the changes Dance Marathon has undergone in recent years. According to Sivitskis, the fundraiser policy encouraged dancing participants to become more involved this year than in others.
“This year we’re trying to get every dancer to raise one dollar minimum. The [Dance Marathon] slogan is ‘be a hero, raise more than zero.’ We’re trying to raise more money which brings more happiness,” Sivitskis said.
The top fundraising team besides the executive board was the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority (Theta). Haley Hochstein, a member of Theta, was the top individual fundraiser for this year’s event, raising a total of $2,786 for Dance Marathon. When asked about her motivation behind becoming top fundraiser, Hochstein explained her personal connection to the cause.
“There is actually a smaller children’s hospital near my house that I used to volunteer with. I became close with this one little girl and her family,” Hochstein said. “She passed away when I was in high school and that really upset me, but it also set a fire in me to help these kids. These are wonderful kids and some of them don’t get to have fun like we do. So it just kind of created a firewood inside me. It just really motivated me to be like, ‘I have to do something about this.’”
Su Ataman, a freshman morale leader, echoed Hochstein’s sentiment.
“We dance for the children who cannot. Knowing this and reminding myself of this throughout the night kept me on my feet. It’s truly humbling. It also fosters this wonderful idea that just a small contribution from a large [group] of people can actually make a difference. I feel like a lot of people don’t actually realize this; I do DM because if we don’t, who will?” Ataman wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
This is Hochstein’s third year participating in Dance Marathon, and she raised more money at this year’s event than in either of the past two.
“I have the DM page like we all have, and I advertised on Facebook, but to friends and family in my community who also knew this little girl, I sent them a more personal email. I said it would mean a lot to not only me but her family, my family and the sisters of my sorority. Dance Marathon is a really big deal at my school. I think that personal message touched a lot more people,” Hochstein said.
Hochstein’s final message was that Dance Marathon has positively affected her time at Hopkins by allowing her to focus on a cause that affects other people.
“Hopkins is hard, and it’s very easy to get bogged down and be self-centered,” Hochstein said. “But when you take a step back and raise money for kids who are really in the big picture having a much harder time, it’s just really nice to see the results of something you’ve worked really hard for. It’s nice being part of something so much bigger than yourself.”
Correction: The top photo was incorrectly credited in the print edition. It was taken by Anna Goodridge.
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