The UNI Dance Marathon (DM) Big Event has come and gone, but the impact that it has had—and will continue to have—is here to stay.

The initial goal of $620,000 was surpassed by over $60,000, thanks to the fundraising efforts of UNI students, faculty, alumni and numerous benefactors from the community. 

The “Big Event” as it is referred to, was held Saturday, March 2, from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. 

Daniel Reiter, one of many morale captains involved with the event, said their ability to exceed their original fundraising goal feels amazing.

“I can’t put it into words how it feels,” Reiter said. “It was a great feeling, seeing that number go up, and it’s $60,000 more than what we intended on raising. It was just a great feeling.”

Mariah Staebell, executive co-director for DM, helped coordinate the event and said the overwhelming number of donations is part of what kept everyone on their feet, dancing into the a.m.

“It was pretty cool to know throughout the day that we knew that everybody was going to be super happy and super excited by the end,” said Staebell.

According to Staebell, part of what led to exceeding their initial goal was extra fundraising efforts they had the opportunity to do this year. 

“We do fundraising events throughout the entire year, and we were able to have a couple different unique opportunities this past year with the Maddie Poppe concert,” Staebell said. “She was generous enough to donate her time to perform and we got ticket proceeds from that concert, so that was definitely a unique fundraising opportunity that we specifically had this year.”

Staebell added that the passion and determination of those involved—dancers, volunteers, and executives—is what made the event possible. 

The original goal of $620,000 represents the 62 children who are admitted into the Children’s Miracle Networking Hospital each minute. According to Staebell, that number is what helped put the event into perspective for those who were involved. 

The money raised through Dance Marathon goes toward providing new hospital rooms, a helicopter transport team and a new pediatric ambulance. All of these innovations, according to Staebell, create better opportunities for improved care, research and above all, saving lives. 

UNI DM also represents families whose children have passed away. The Big Event offers these families an opportunity to share their child’s story with the rest of the community, thus, cementing their memory within the community forever. 

It will be a quick turnaround to begin the planning of next year’s Dance Marathon, and applications for the next Executive Co-Directors are already available. For more information about UNI DM, visit unidancemarathon.com.

“You have to raise $200 to get into the Big Event,” Reiter said. “It’s not as hard as it sounds. It’s asking 10 people for $20 within the span of two semesters.” 

Staebell and Reiter both agreed that the aura of this year’s Dance Marathon felt much more relaxed than years passed. 

“Everyone knew what they were there to do, they knew they were there to raise money, they knew they were there to help these kids,” Staebell said.