From the bright lights, to the loud music, to the neon apparel, to the giant smiles on every face in the room, Dance Marathon could be summed up in one word: powerful.
Dance Marathon "heroes," or participants in the event, began to flood the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center gym at 10 a.m. on Saturday for a day full of laughing, dancing and miracle making. All participants joined together with the same motto: “For The Kids.”
The day consisted of learning a line dance, playing games, a performance by the Carolina Gentlemen and personal stories from the miracle families benefiting from the cause.
Fourth-year public relations student Gabi Santos served as public relations director for this year's Dance Marathon. She emphasized that participants were focused on the meaningful cause behind the event.
“Today has been super, super positive. It seems like the heroes just understand our campaign this year, which was to push our ‘why’ … why we raise this money, why we stand for 14 hours, why we do what we do,” Santos said.
“The number that we flip tonight, it doesn’t really matter, because the point is that we got it across to the entire campus, so that was our goal," she said.
Not only did the event achieve their goal of reaching the entire campus with their message, but they also generated a total of $527,810 to be donated straight to Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital. This is the largest total Dance Marathon has delivered since its inception in 1999.
Fourth-year sports and entertainment management student Andy Kendrick, head morale leader for Dance Marathon, had set a personal fundraising goal of $1,500 for the all-day dance event. Kendrick exceeded his goal, reaching a total of $4,000, but “meeting the miracle families is probably the coolest thing," he said.
"You can really hear their story and see the struggle that they’ve gone through, but also see how much it means to them that we’re here. And the smile on their face is the most important part," Kendrick said.
For 14 hours straight, heroes were on their feet dancing for a cause bigger than themselves. They heard the stories of the lives of the children whom which they were helping to change, they rallied their families and friends and met their fundraising goals, they saw the total number exposed and at the end of the day and they remembered why they do it: “For The Kids.”
News writer Tori Richman contributed to the reporting of this story.