Tangerine orange flooded Maucker Union on Saturday from noon to midnight, as UNI Dance Marathon (UNI DM) hosted their fifth annual Big Event, Dance Marathon 2016. The dancers raised a grand total of $370,248.05 for the kids (FTK), surpassing their goal of $305,000. The money raised will be donated to the Iowa Children’s Miracle Network to benefit “miracle children” and their families.

DM is a nationwide movement involving college and high school students at more than 450 schools. More students participate in Miracle Network DM than any other student-led philanthropy in the United States according to DM’s website. Last year, college DMs raised more than $8 million.

An executive team of UNI students planned for the Big Event months in advance.

Ashley Topping, junior marketing major participated as a morale captain, a student in charge of a “morale team” of students who raise funds to support an individual Miracle family.

“My brother had cancer when I was in high school, and he was only 10 years old,” said Topping. “[My family] became involved in Iowa’s Dance Marathon, and I knew then that when I was in college I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and give back to all of these kiddos.”

Mikaylah Scott, sophomore pre-nursing major also weighed-in on why she wanted to become a morale captain.

“I became a morale captain to become more involved with the miracle families and to be a role model and a leader for not only the dancers, but for these kiddos,” Scott said.

To kick off the event, all of the teams gathered together and ran into the ballroom to high five each and every dancer participating in the event, circling around the Maucker Union Ballroom.

After all 40 morale teams jogged in and high-fived each other, the miracle kiddos and their families were introduced; the children who did not make it to the event were also recognized.

McKayla Klosterman, freshman business major and first-time dancer, enjoyed watching the crowds come together at the start of the day the best.

“The run-in at the beginning of the day and seeing all of the people who came together to support such a great cause,” Klosterman said.

After the run-in, each team gathered to speak with their miracle kiddos and families and then the rest of the activities started. There were plenty of events to keep the kiddos and dancers entertained.

The upstairs of the Maucker Union featured a “jail and bail,” where dancers were put into a ‘jail’ by kiddos or other dancers and had to raise a certain amount of money in order to be ‘bailed out.’

In the hemisphere lounge, there was a photo booth, boxes to place hand-written letters to each kiddo and a game of nine-square.

In the ballrooms, there was a game of human foosball, inflatable Twister and an area for human Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Downstairs, there was a Dancing in Our Hearts room where dancers could read memoirs of children who lost their battles.

Student Leadership Committee (SLC) also provided a giveback room where dancers could make tie-blankets, dream catchers and other crafts to be donated.

Along with these activities, other entertainment was brought it to keep the dancers active. The UNI football team, women’s soccer team and swimming team made an appearance to compete in an athlete dance-off, a musical performance was held the by Brad and Kate Meyers Band and dance performances by the dance group The Prophets.

The final two hours of UNI DM, known as the “Power Hour” started at 10p.m. DJ Pei came to entertain the crowd.

At the top of each hour of the 12-hour event, the morale dance was performed.

This dance was taught at the start of the event to all the dancers and it was used as a way to bring the crowd back together for a boost of energy.

Immediately following each of these morale dances, a miracle kiddo story was told.

One of the many stories shared was about Jared Minikus, a 13-year-old miracle kiddo who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He and his parents shared a video of pictures that started with his diagnosis and continued throughout his treatment.

His mother, Dianna Minikus, explained the importance of Dance Marathon throughout his battle.

“There were nights where Dance Marathon members would come and just hold him for two to three hours just to give his mom and dad a break,” Minikus said. “You guys are the ones who made it possible for him to beat this.”

Jared also added his own word of motivation.

“If I can get through all of that, you guys can get through eight more hours of this,” Jared Minikus said.

Each hour held a new special event, and one of them included haircutting and shaving.

“I love seeing people donate to others who can’t grow their own hair out and all the emotions it brings,” Scott said. “It seriously gives me chills.”

The haircuts happened about halfway through the event when many dancers, morale captains and executive members stood on stage, had their hair gathered into pony tails, watched them be cut off and then held them for the rest of the dancers and participants to see.

Head shaving followed hair cutting, where co-executive director, Amanda Howard, and morale captains, Whitney Broghammer and Phillip Adams, sat on stage and completely shaved their heads while listening to the crowd chant “FTK.”

This moment elicited an emotional response from the audience, like crying and hollers of encouragement. These were accompanied by gong rings, which indicated that a dancer had raised $100 within this 12-hour period and was followed by an echo of cheers from the crowd.

Kyton Rehder, sophomore communication studies and Spanish double major and returning dancer, explained why he chose to participate again this year.

“Last year I had such a great experience,” Rehder said. “I was able to help and inspire children who have gone through a lot and it’s great to know that you can make such a difference in someone’s life.”

Posted all around Maucker Union were signs for dancers to write #whyIdance or #Idancefor to remind them of why they keep dancing.

Some of the responses included: more first kisses, more smiles and less tears, more tomorrows, more candles on a cake, more Christmas mornings, less time in the hospital and more UNI graduates.

Natalie Rork, director of Morale, commented before the “Power Hour” to remind the dancers of what UNI DM is really about.

“People have asked me, why do you have to stand all 12 hours and why can you not have caffeine?” Rork said. “Well, the kiddos don’t get to stop being sick, so we don’t get to stop being tired.”

Perhaps the 12-hour event can be best explained by pop singer Macklemor’s lyrics, which were included in the morale dance.

“We danced, and we cried, and we laughed and had a really, really, really, good time,” the participants shouted along at the top of the hour.

To look at photos from the Big Event, follow UNI_DM on Twitter and Instagram or by searching the hashtags: #305on305, #OneStepCloser and #UNIDM2016.