Dance Marathon: Amazing event, amazing kids, amazing dancers

Say what you want about college-aged people. You can call them self-involved. Shallow. Irresponsible.

But if you experienced the University of Iowa’s Dance Marathon, you wouldn’t call them any of those things. You would call them selfless. You’d call them giving. Mindful. And inspiring.

Before this year, I had always admired Dance Marathon, which is a year-round volunteer organization that raises money and provides company and support for kids with cancer at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

In my opinion, Dance Marathon combines the social and altruistic aspects of volunteering better than any volunteer organization I’ve ever seen. And it’s one of my major regrets from my undergraduate years at the UI that I didn’t participate.

But this year, I wanted to do my part to help the dancers get through the Big Event, which is 24 hours, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., of dancing and staying on their feet, interacting with the kids that they work so hard for and the families that appreciate them so much.

I volunteered and worked in the bag check area Friday night. I was honored and proud to be a small, small part of such a great event and organization. While there, I witnessed thousands of dancers, who had already given up many hours of their time to raise money for the young patients of the UI Children’s Hospital who face so much difficulty, giving up their weekend to stay up for 24 hours to celebrate life for the kids.

There’s a real sense of community in the IMU during Dance Marathon. Everyone smiles at each other, everyone is patient and cheerful and full of energy. There’s a palpable buzz. And the kids and families love it. They smile nonstop.

Everyone there is a rock star, but the dancers wouldn’t take any credit. They do it for the kids.

“For The Kids” (FTK) is their mantra, and it’s more than just that. It’s the reason they join Dance Marathon. And it’s the inspiration that keeps them going through all the canning for money; all the time spent organizing and preparing. And all the aches and pains and fatigue that come with staying up and on your feet for that long.

Of course, the amount of money raised is astonishing (over $1 million last year), but it’s the impact they have on the families lives that really matters. Just the fact that someone cares about them, works hard for them and spends time with them seems to brighten these brave kids’ lives. The dancers truly are role models for these kids. What kid wouldn’t look up to cool college kids who treat them like they’re the most important person in the room?

Not only the kids and families look up to the dancers, but the whole UI community does as well, myself included. To all the dancers still going strong as I write this: Thank you for all that you do. We’re proud of you, and you should be proud of yourselves.