Dance Marathon

On January 22nd and 23rd the Memorial Union was filled with a teal-tatistic good time called Iowa State Dance Marathon, and successfully raised $362,854.18 For The Kids. ISUDM is neither a marathon nor a dance but instead a celebration of life. Dancers stand on their feet for 12 hours in honor of our Miracle Kiddos receiving care from The University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. These kiddos can face major hardships and never stop fighting so we stand so they do not have to fight alone.

While there is a dance, the Morale Dance, performed every hour on the hour there were more activities than just jamming to the djs. After the morale dance there is a family story where you get to hear first hand how ISUDM has helped their family during their time of need. ISUDM helps support a patient library, meal tokens, parking validation, and the new hospital that is currently being built. Other events during the two events were laser tag, inflatables, an arcade room, a headphone disco, a service project, and a snack shack that was open for the majority of the event. Also, each hour had a different student organization that performed such as Dub H, Shy of a Dozen, and even Zumba. My favorite performer was the hypnotist since I got to watch some of my friends hypnotized doing funny dance moves.

This year I was a committee member and it was also my fourth and final ISUDM. I helped recruit dancers, fundraise, and attend the event so they could see what dance marathon is really like. ISUDM has changed my life for the better. I came into college as an English major but after dance marathon I realized that there was a population that I really connected with that I wanted to help. I changed my major to Psychology and Child, Adult, and Family Services so I could better serve our amazing miracle kiddos. As a committee member I have developed personal connections with some of our kiddos and maintain contact with them during the entire year. I have met some of my best friends that have the same passion as me even though we may have completely different reasons why we stand.

Committee applications are coming out soon and I highly recommend getting involved in this amazing organization.

Posted by: Kenzie Markland