Full of upbeat dance performances and emotional stories, Aggie Dance Marathon is an impactful way to spend a Saturday.
Aggie Miracle Network is a philanthropy-based student organization that focuses on raising money for the local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, McLane Children’s Medical Center, in Temple, Texas. The Aggie Dance Marathon marks the end of the fundraising period for the organization where participants can watch performances, partake in dances, fundraise and listen to the stories of the children at the hospital.
With a ticket price of $20, this event will be held on Saturday March 2 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Physical Education Activity Program building. The event will include a picture booth, relay activities, raffle area and a letter writing station.
English education sophomore Becca Crosby is the director of campus engagement for Aggie Miracle Network. Crosby said that Aggie Dance Marathon is focused on appreciating the problems faced by children treated by McLane’s Medical Center.
“We do 12 hours in honor of the 12th Man, and we stay standing the whole time to honor the nurses that have to stay standing for their entire job,” Crosby said. “The event isn’t 100 percent dancing.”
Allied health junior and director of fundraising Allison Bryant is a part of the finance department and helps the staff make their minimum fundraising goal. According to Bryant, Aggie Dance Marathon helps the participants learn how to fundraise through various activities.
“It is much easier to make this a huge event if we have organizations involved and we offer different incentives, like this year whichever organization gets the biggest donation … gets $1,000 for their philanthropy team,” Bryant said.
During the 2017-2018 year, Aggie Miracle raised $203,653.29. Margo Hood, a chemical engineering junior and membership executive director for the Aggie Miracle Network, said fundraising is a yearlong venture for the organization.
“We start fundraising in the summer and that comes from the staff in their hometown,” Hood said. “After school begins we do small fundraisers around campus. Each week we do something called ‘canning,’ where we hold cans on the corner of Texas and Harvey one day a week for people put their spare change in.”
According to Crosby, the Aggie Dance Marathon is well worth the $20 price tag, as Aggie Miracle Network works with other organizations on campus to all come together to make the children treated at McLane Children’s Medical Hospital feel special.
“We have 12 miracle kids that have used McLane’s services for life saving support and they come up every hour to tell their story,” Crosby said. “These are kids that deserve to have a whole campus support them and hear their story.”