One night, I was Google-ing Dance Marathon like I often do. I came across this quote: “A WIFE WHO LOSES A HUSBAND IS CALLED A WIDOW. A HUSBAND WHO LOSES A WIFE IS CALLED A WIDOWER. A CHILD WHO LOSES HIS PARENTS IS CALLED AN ORPHAN. BUT … THERE IS NO WORD FOR A PARENT WHO LOSES A CHILD; THAT’S HOW AWFUL THE LOSS IS.” – Neugeboren After I read this, I sat and tried to think of something that could possibly be worse than losing your child. I couldn't come up with a single thing. We are often asked “Why do you dance?” here at UNI. This quote sums up why we dance. We “dance for the chance” to give children life. Kids should not have to grow up in hospital beds. They shouldn’t have to keep f

1. When and how did you first hear about Dance Marathon? I first heard about Dance Marathon when my high school did a mini-dance marathon for Loras' Dance Marathon. I heard about UNI Dance Marathon through a friend who was involved and I went with her to the Public Relations committee and I fell in love with it. 2. What is your role in the organization now? I am a member of the Fundraising committee as well as a dancer! 3. What is the best part about being involved in Dance Marathon? I love seeing the progress of the fundraising from the start of the year until the big reveal. It is the greatest feeling knowing that all of our hard work pays off in the best way; for in my opinion, one

UNI DM has 35 miracle kiddos but there are thousands more around the world who are dealing with sickness just like our kiddos. Every single one of them, all around the world, have one thing in common. They all have a zero hour. That second in time where everything changed and normal was no longer normal. For many families, it happened within the first few hours of their child’s birth when the doctor told the parents that their child wasn’t perfectly healthy. Other families got the news after their child bumped their head playing soccer, went in for a checkup and found themselves sitting in the doctor’s office after receiving paralyzing news; their child had a life threatening illness. Ever

The purpose of this blog is pretty simple. Why is DM important? Why do over 1,000 college students care so much about kiddos they have never met before? UNI Dance Marathon’s Big Event brings together students and the 35 miracle kiddos with life threatening illnesses and their families who we support in a fun, high energy atmosphere. Throughout the day there is a variety of games, activities, and entertainment for UNI students and the miracle kiddos to enjoy. By getting involved with UNI Dance Marathon, signing up for our Big event, and fundraising, dancers are making a difference in the lives of our miracle kiddos and their families. 100% of the proceeds raised over the past year leadin

What is Dance Marathon at UNI? Although a lot of people know what Dance Marathon is on campus there are still some that have little to no clue what Dance Marathon is or what all we do. I want to use this letter to the DM world to give you a better idea of what our organization does. When I was a freshmen, I had no clue what UNI Dance Marathon was all about but fell in love with it after attending my first Big Event. I want to give you guys a look into what it is all about so you can sign up for your first Big Event in March! In very general terms, The University of Northern Iowa Dance Marathon strives to provide hope and comfort for families with children facing life threatening illnesses by

With winter break coming to a close it’s time to start planning for spring semester and the Big Event. We’ve got less than 60 days until we all get to shamelessly share our embarrassing dance moves for 12 hours straight. So get your gear ready, get yourself ready, and of course get your dance moves ready. To make the most of your experience be sure to have these four essentials as you head back to Cedar Falls. Any and all orange gear you can find: this can include orange bandanas, shorts, socks, headbands, or anything else orange you can find. There’s no such thing as too much orange at the Big Event, so get creative! Comfortable shoes: if you’re going to be on your feet for 12 hours, then y

In addition to our other social media accounts, you can now keep up to date on everything Dance Marathon with Snapchat! In September 2014, we launched the UNI Dance Marathon Snapchat account, @UNI_DM to add another way for us to connect with people about DM. For those of you that don’t know, Snapchat is a popular phone application that lets you send short video and pictures to your friends. To learn more about the app, click here. How Does UNI Dance Marathon use Snapchat? If you add us on Snapchat, you will get pictures and videos of our events sent straight to your phone. By utilizing the My Story feature of the app, we send out developments taking place within all of the committees behin

A lot comes to mind as I begin to think about Dance Marathon. My mind is flooded with the color orange, excitement, and a handful of emotional recollections. But, amidst all of these thoughts, one thing stands out more than the others -- Dance Marathon is a family. In my first year at UNI, I quickly learned about UNI Dance Marathon, which was at the time, in its inaugural year. I registered to attend the event with a friend, bedazzled a fanny pack (what else?!) and from that moment, I watched a spark that would ignite our entire campus for the best cause in the world -- FOR THE KIDS. One of the many ways I see family throughout Dance Marathon is in the unification of the Executive Tea

When and why did you initially get involved with Dance Marathon? Last year was my first year at UNI and I thought it sounded cool, but as time went on I got involved in other things. When people started to ask me to sign up I really did not want to, but Natalie Rork convinced me after a long time of trying and I went to the event and fell in love with the organization. What made you want to be a Morale Captain? I wanted to be a captain because I really love to lead people; it is one of my favorite things and what better thing to lead people in than this amazing organization. Also, after last year’s DM I really fell in love with the whole idea of the campus and campuses all across the nati