Service organizations like UI Dance Marathon raise support and boost skills.
There’s a reason they call it “the Big Event.” More than 2,000 University of Iowa students packed the Iowa Memorial Union Feb. 1-2 for a daylong dance marathon that raised money and morale for patients at UI Children’s Hospital.
The experience was punctuated by cheers and tears, the ever-present rallying cry “For the kids!” and heartfelt testimony from families about what UI Dance Marathon means to them. But the pinnacle came at the very end, when participants discovered just how much their work had paid off: more than $1.5 million raised, a new record.
The 2013 figure brings Dance Marathon’s 19-year haul to $12.7 million. It recently was named one of the nation’s top 10 college fundraisers. Dance Marathon is the university’s single largest student organization, but it’s just one of many service-focused projects that draw dedicated student support.
Iowa is home to the 10,000 Hours Show, which rewards active volunteers with a free, big-name concert. The Tippie College of Business’s Tippie Build is working toward its sixth Habitat for Humanity home for a local family. More than 1,000 student volunteers put in over 42,000 hours each year at UI Hospitals and Clinics.
By one count, UI student volunteer activities are worth $20.5 million a year.
Students who join service causes gain more than a sense of giving back. Involvement with campus and community activities correlates with better academic performance, and organizations like Dance Marathon build valuable, marketable skills.
“These students are essentially running a million-dollar business,” says Courtney Blind, a Dance Marathon alumna who coordinated this year’s program for the Division of Student Life’s Center for Student Involvement and Leadership.
Though it culminates in one big night, Dance Marathon is a year-round commitment with more than 200 students filling executive and committee roles. “They organize fund-raising, secure corporate sponsorships, arrange family activities, and
volunteer at the hospital,” Blind says. “They learn how to communicate, negotiate, and handle stress, and by the end they’ve become a well-oiled machine.”
Their dedication is leaving a lasting mark on the UI campus. In 2011, Dance Marathon committed $5 million over 10 years to help construct a new UI Children’s Hospital, slated for completion in 2015.
To learn more about Dance Marathon, go to dancemarathon.uiowa.edu