EXEC LETTER: AMANDA HOWARD

Are we doing enough? Do you ever have one of those days where you question if you are enough? Are you doing enough? I have asked myself that a lot lately. I think as a person of DM, it is a natural question to ask yourself. We are supposed to be working hard to raise money and offer support to our kiddos. If you are a true Dance Marathoner, you will never feel like you are doing enough, but that is a good thing. Dance Marathon wants you to feel like that. When you feel like you aren’t doing enough, you switch into this mode where you want to do everything in your power to make a difference and to try and reach the point where you are doing enough. However, in Dance Marathon, you will never be doing enough. There will always be more we can do. We wont be doing enough until there are no longer any childhood illnesses. That is the ultimate goal: No More Childhood Illnesses. I’m going to be honest, right now we are not doing enough, we still have a long ways to go to hit $305,000 by March 5th, 2016. The kiddos need us to do more, yes, but we need us to do more. We need to strive to feel like we are doing enough for our kiddos. We will not be able to actually feel that until there are no more childhood illnesses. So, when you need a little bit of extra motivation to keep pushing, to ask for another dollar, to lose a little more sleep because of events, just think of our kiddos. Think of their smiles, laughter, and warm hugs. They are our motivation to keep going. They are the key to us feeling like we are doing enough. We need to keep fighting to fundraise. Not just for our kiddos, but also for ourselves. We need to use that feeling of “We aren’t doing enough,” to motivate us. Our kiddos need us, but if we really think about it, do we need our kiddos more? When I see our kiddos smile, that is when I know that I am on my way to doing enough. When I get to receive a warm hug from a kiddos, I know that I am on my way to doing enough. One of my favorite things to get, beside a kiddo hug, is a text notification saying that I got a donation. I am going to do everything that I can do to continue to receive these things. Will you help UNI Dance Marathon work towards being good enough?