UNI Dance Marathon kicked off fundraising and recruitment on Thursday with their annual Orange Party event. The event, which has typically been used as a kickoff to recruitment, was slightly different this year as participants pushed to help the overall organization raise one million dollars.

Alexis Scharfenkamp, a junior public relations major, described their goal.

“This year, we decided to do an $18K Push Day so that we could get to a million dollars raised as an organization,” Scharfenkamp said. “So this year it’s just kind of like a big come together, see what we got done during the day.”

DM surpassed their goal of $18,000 in a day by raising, $28,451.

UNI Dance Marathon (DM) is a student organization on campus that fundraises throughout the year for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

“Dance Marathon is a student-led organization that strives to provide both monetary support and hope for kiddos fighting life threatening illnesses at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital,” Scharfenkamp said. “Our families are located in the Cedar Valley though for the most part, so a lot of interaction.”

The nation-wide organization helps raise money for hospitals within the Children’s Miracle Network. Daniel Vorwerk, a second year graduate student, studying post-secondary education in student affairs spoke of his involvement within the organization.

“We spend [time] year-round raising awareness about what Dance Marathon is, what the need is at the hospital and then raising funds for that with different events that we host, like the Orange Party,” Vorwerk said.

The Orange Party’s original location was at the Campanile. However, the chance of rain caused the event to move over to the Wellness and Recreation Center (WRC) upper courts.

“The Campanile’s really just the center of what UNI is,” Vorwerk said. “We want to be able to provide a place for people to come, regardless of who they are and feel like they aren’t an outsider when they are at our events.”

Various activities were set up in the courts such as 9-square, corn hole, hula hoops and a photo booth. To help achieve their fundraising goal for the day,  DM sold various apparel.

Some students attended to check out the event and get more information about Dance Marathon, such as Liz Springer, a junior elementary education major. Others were seasoned dancers.

“I think we all have family members or friends that have been affected by different illnesses or cancers,” Springer said.

Seth Schneider, a junior computer science major, explained why he dances.

“A lot of the kids here have gone through some really crazy stuff,” Schneider said. “I can dance and I can stay on my feet for 12 hours if they can go through years of chemotherapy.”

Jessica Lemme, a senior psychology major, dances for the milestones.

“I dance so kids can experience all the milestones that every child should go through that shouldn’t be robbed from them,” Lemme said.

UNI DM’s Big Event will be held on March 4 in Maucker Union with a fundraising goal of $400,000.

“We have specific weeks that we push. Upcoming, we have a pancake breakfast […], FTK week […] after Thanksgiving break, a date auction and other fundraising events,” Scharfenkamp said. There will also be a Black Tie Affair event in January.

“We’re looking for support both financially and registering for the Big Event,” Vorwerk said. “If you go to our website, there’s a large register button. You pay 30 dollars and that gets you two meals, your event shirt, your water bottle and access to the 12-hour event.”

The UNI Dance Marathon website also has information on how to get involved with Dance Marathon’s committees and who to contact for more information.

“Dance Marathon is something that is so much bigger than any of us. It’s something where we get to give back to the cause that you might not know about when you first get to college, but is something that all of us are connected to, whether you know it or not,” Vorwerk said.