Dance Marathon “Commits For The Kids” on Child Health Day
On Monday, October 1, collegiate and K-12 Miracle Network Dance Marathon programs throughout the nation celebrated Child Health Day.
Child Health Day is a United States Federal Observance Day observed on the first Monday in October. In a Presidential Proclamation in 2013, President Barack Obama said “On Child Health Day, we are reminded of our first, most urgent task—to protect and develop the health of our children. Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to our Nation’s youth and remember our future depends on their success.”
Students from 231 campuses made efforts to #CommitForTheKids by registering for their campus’s Dance Marathon program, fundraising, and helping to spread the word that children’s hospitals need donations to save kids’ lives.
Miracle Network Dance Marathon programs were eligible to compete in Child Health Day Challenges with the programs in each respective tier that registered the most new participants and the programs that fundraised the most on Child Health Day receiving additional donations. Programs were also recognized for the most creative social media posts and on-campus awareness initiatives that helped to promote their Child Health Day campaigns.
In total, 11,451 individuals registered as fundraisers for 202 different Dance Marathon programs on Child Health Day. The programs in each tier that registered the most new participants include:
Over 11,000 individual participants from 226 different campuses received donations on Child Health Day, helping to collectively raise $493,608 in one day. The programs that collectively fundraised the most in each tier include:
The top five individual students who fundraised the most were also recognized and will have up to $1,000 of their one-day fundraising total matched. Overall, 17 students reached “comma club,” meaning they had a comma in their fundraising total from raising over $1,000, on Child Health Day. The top five individual fundraisers are:
Programs were also encouraged to help spread awareness that children’s hospitals need donations and how their funds raised are benefitting their local CMN Hospitals. The winners of the awareness challenges are listed below. Be sure to continue reading to see the winning programs’ and individuals’ social media posts.
To show their “funds in action,” Loras College Dance Marathon shared a video that shows the patient and family services that are made available at the University of Iowa Dance Marathon Stead Family Children’s Hospital thanks to their programs pledge to raise $500,000 for their hospital.
https://www.facebook.com/LorasCollegeDM/videos/315609679259644/?__tn__=-R
Throughout the day on Child Health Day, Fontbonne University Dance Marathon shared graphics that showcase what $5,000 would help to provide for their hospital. This campaign helped to demonstrate to their campus what their goal of raising $5,000 on Child Health Day could tangibly purchase for the hospital and superhero themed in conjunction with their “Be Heroic Today” slogan.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoZemJ_g1Tz/?taken-by=fontbonnedm
OwlThon at Florida Atlantic University posted a video to promote their registration week campaign that kicked off on Child Health Day. The video includes OwlThon members explaining why they “Commit for the Kids” in the hope of helping students on their campus to be inspired to want to register as a fundraiser. In total, 277 individuals registered for OwlThon on Monday.
https://www.facebook.com/OwlThon/videos/166654830922508/
On Child Health Day, individual participants could also be recognized for posting on their social media channels based on the prompt “I #CommitForTheKids because…” The most impactful posts will be recognized with a $100 donation toward their fundraising efforts for their local hospital.
Check out the winning posts below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoZVxHBg8en/?tagged=commitforthekids
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoZwLHgl4LU/?tagged=commitforthekids
https://www.facebook.com/alex.kershenbaum/posts/2105519129480964
https://www.facebook.com/kenley.logan/posts/2136740019693811
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoaMqNYl_k5/?tagged=commitforthekids
https://www.facebook.com/tori.dursky/posts/2395524363798160
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoZoBphDXyn/?tagged=commitforthekids
Miracle Network Dance Marathon is an international movement, involving over 400 colleges, universities and K-12 schools across North America that fundraise for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since its inception in 1991, Miracle Network Dance Marathon has raised more than $250 million–ensuring that no child or family fights pediatric illness or injury alone.
Learn more about Miracle Network Dance Marathon: