Dancing the day away

Twelve-hour Dance Marathon raises funds for Children’s Miracle Network

People are dancing around a Las Vegas-themed room in colorful T-shirts and shorts. It is no social—it’s Dance Marathon.

Dance Marathon is a tradition hosted at Georgia College in Magnolia Ballroom each year. Women from different sororities and this year, even some men joined in raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network in Macon. This year’s theme was “Hit the Jackpot for the Kids.”

The concept is simple—all that participants have to do is raise $50 and dance on the day of the event. What hasn’t been mentioned is their dedication. These guys and gals dance for 12 hours without sitting down.

Belinda Dennis, graduate assistant at The GIVE Center and secondary education major, is in charge of the event this year. She explains that Dance Marathon has been evolving over the years.

“Last year, it was only eight hours, but we bumped it up to 12. And also our goal for this year is to raise $28,000 which is 6,000 more than we raised last year,” Dennis said.

The amount of money they end up raising is kept a surprise, even from Dennis, until the end of the night.

She thanks her strong executive board for helping her make this event a success, but the thing that makes it really special is the stories from kids who are benefiting from the money being raised.

More families were able to come out this year than the last to Dance Marathon to talk about how the Children’s Miracle Network has helped them.

One of the children served by the event is Cody Honeycutt, a 17-year-old who is passionate about sharing his story.

In his speech to the crowd, he expressed how grateful he is for the Children’s Hospital in Macon because he doesn’t have to go all the way to Atlanta for treatment. He has a certain disorder that makes it difficult to breathe and walk.

After he tells his story participants in red shirts take the stage. They chanted “C-O-D-Y” to the beat of “YMCA” by the Village People because they are members of his team.

Each team, represented by the different colored t-shirts in the room, has a child that they are cheering for. The teams are put together randomly so that members can meet new people.

Jessica Cumbee, a sophomore chemistry major, is the morale leader for the red team. This means she uses her bubbly personality to keep her group pumped up until they stop dancing at midnight. She’s got what it takes for the job because she sang along to every song they played.

“What keeps me motivated the most are the stories about the kids that we are helping,” said Liz Carpenter, senior math major and member of the red team.

To keep the energy alive the Dance Marathon leaders play music trivia with the participants and give out door prizes donated by local businesses.

Each time any fun song, like “Burning Up” by the Jonas Brothers or “Summer Girl” by LFO, comes on each team starts to dance. They are even energetic at 5 p.m.

“It’s great that different groups on campus can get together for a common cause,” said Michele McGuire, sophomore pre-mass communication major and blue team member.