Friday, April 30, 2021 Dance Marathon reaches $1 million milestone in 2021
by Kirsten Wandrey | Student Affairs
Since its inception in 2004, Dance Marathon at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has raised over $1 million for the Children's Hospital and Medical Center. This effort is thanks to community donors, Huskerthon participants and student volunteers. The $224,000 raised from the 2021 Huskerthon event helped reach this milestone.
UNL Dance Marathon has helped fund almost every part of the local Children's Hospital, which allows participants to see tangible benefits and feel truly rewarded by seeing the improvements their fundraising brings about. Projects Dance Marathon has funded include a radiology room, emergency trauma and triage rooms, fetal care centers, entertainment systems for kids during scans, outpatient clinics and much more.
"We are grateful to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for supporting your Huskerthon journey and to you for your steadfast commitment," said the Children's Hospital and Medical Center in a recent email. "Although this past year has been a time of great uncertainty, your dedication to our cause and to the kids we serve has never wavered."
Dance Marathon is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in a social and professional group on campus while making significant real-world change. Anyone can get involved with next year's HuskerThon – visit the organization's website to see all the ways you can help.
"Students take part in something that is bigger than themselves, and they gain real-world transitional skills such as time management, organization, adaptability, communication, leadership and many more," said program coordinator Joe Hagerty.
There has also been a noticeable uptick in donations within the last few years of Dance Marathon. If they raise at least $370,506.96, the Spring 2022 senior class will have raised $1 million alone in their time at NEBRASKA, showing the immense growth of the organization and community involvement. Much of this success could be attributed to evolving marketing ideas as students continue to develop the Dance Marathon brand.
"The students are becoming more and more innovative in terms of the methods used to fundraise such as a UNDM Talent show, online auctions, merchandise sales, and discount registration days," said Hagerty.
Read more about the recent 2021 HuskerThon and its impact here.