The DM Truth

I've been wanting to write a Dance Marathon-specific post for awhile, and I've actually had this written down, but haven't gotten around to posting it.  Maybe that means I've been spending so much time doing other things, including fundraising and spending some time with the miracle families.

Well, time has gone by waaaay too quickly this semester.  Here's my first post about DM, finally!  Hopefully this will give you some more insight into why I have an obsession with all things FTK.



What is it?
Dance Marathon is a huge year-long movement of college and high school students raising awareness and funds for local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.  At USC, we have various events that lead up to "Main Event."  This year it's in February, featuring over a thousand students staying on their feet for 14 hours, fundraising, learning a mash-up dance to keep them motivated, and hearing unbelievable and heart-warming stories from "miracle children" and their families.

So, what's the point?

We don’t raise money so we can tell people about the numbers.  We raise money so we can show people about the miracles made at Miracle Network Hospitals every day.  To show people about our miracle children and their families. To teach them about kids who go through more in a few months than I may go through in a lifetime, and who deserve all the love and care that each of us deserves.  We raise money and awareness so we can have a family of students that extends into the community.

Sure, numbers matter.  We want to flip a huge total at our big reveal in February.  At the end of 14 hours--a marathon that is only a celebration of a year of recruiting participants and fundraising--we will hold up giant numbers that represent a giant amount of money… 100% of which will be donated to the child life department at our lovely Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital.  But, so much more than the number of dollars, is the number of students who participate in a worthwhile cause, the number of donors who care about what we do, the number of children who are treated every year at our local hospital, and the number of lives we can save and opportunities we can create.

At USC and all over the country, we are a movement that cannot be stopped.  The flame in our logo and the fire in our hearts burns as bright and strong as the smiles on the kids’ faces when they make it through a surgery, get a visit from a family member, or finally get to go home from the hospital, healthy and safe.

Although I just gave this explanation of why DM actually matters, to me and to many others words are not enough to describe why I keep doing so much with the organization, why I love the kids and families I’ve met, and why I talk about it so dang much.  My words don’t describe the feeling of being in our school’s gym with over a thousand people and knowing that we are making an impact that will last for years after we’re gone.  I hope everybody gets a feeling like this doing something they love.  We are spending our time doing something that feels incredibly rewarding, and even magical--that is, if you believe in miracles.