Summer For Stead

What is Summer For Stead?

Summer For Stead is UNI Dance Marathon's annual Summer campaign where we encourage and set up opportunities for students and the community to be fighting throughout the Summer months for the kiddos who are fighting every day. Although Summer months are commonly looked at as a "break" and to enjoy the rest, we choose to use our Summer to inspire individuals in DM to make their Summer count for the sick kiddos needing their support even when school isn't in session. This Summer was FULL of many DM events where we had the chance to build our relationships with families, kiddos, and the community while coming together with the excitement of being at the events for the kids. Let's take a look into some of the fun memories UNI DM had this Summer!

Waterloo Bucks Game:

The Executive Board was able to can at a Bucks Game on June 5th this summer. This was a fun way to get out into the community and spread the word about Dance Marathon, while also collecting donations and taking in some baseball!

Cedar Falls Farmers Market:

We were able to can at the Cedar Falls Farmers Market this summer! We also have some dates set for this fall. We collected donations and spread the word about the amazing organization that Dance Marathon is! We are looking to sell apparel this fall as well.

Sturgis Falls:

UNI DM was llucky enough to volunteer with the Sturgis Falls celebration on June 25-27th again this summer in Cedar Falls. The Executive Board was able to help in many ways and get to enjoy the celebration too! We’re hoping to continue to partner with them in the future.

EllieFest:

EllieFest took place on Saturday, July 24th and it was in honor of Ellie Sitzmann who passed away from Enterovirus

at just 12 days old. The event was organized and hosted by her family and the organization that they have created: Don’t Kiss the Babies. There were many fun events going on such as a golf tournament, activities for young kids, and a silent auction! UNI DM had an amazing time helping out with the kids and keeping them busy throughout the day! It was an amazing way to honor Ellie and support an organization that advocates for others facing similar situations. We are so thankful for this chance we were given to grow closer to the Sitzmann family and their cause!

50 States Challenge:

UNI DM took part in a 50 states challenge where for two weeks, starting on July 19th and ending on August 2nd, we attempted to achieve getting donations from all 50 states in the U.S. By the end of the challenge, we had recieved donations from nine different states. These states stretched from the West to East Coasts and covered over 2,800 miles! It truly is amazing that DM can bring so many people together from so many different areas of the world to help the kiddos.

Tate's Golf Tournament:

The 3rd Annual Golf Tournament for Tate’s Army Foundation took place on Friday, August 6th! The foundation was created to promote lawn mower safety in support of Tate, who suffered life-threatening injuries in a lawn mowing accident when he was younger. Some fun activities that took place were golfing and a silent auction! UNI DM is so grateful for the chance we were given to help out and we had a great time growing closer to the Manahl family and other members of the foundation! We loved supporting them and their efforts toward raising awareness of their cause.

Dike Watermelon Days:

This was a brand new event for UNI DM! We partnered with the Dike Watermelon Days to host a kickball tournament on August 14th of this Summer. Four teams competed, with the Kickballerz taking home what we hope is the 1st Annual Championship! We were sponsored by Reinbeck Pharmacy and a good time was had by all. We’re hoping to

grow this tournament in the future!