by Madison V. Fisler
Feb. 24, 2014. Fifteen hours of dancing on the part of many Appalachian State University students have really paid off for two local nonprofit organizations.
This year, the annual event raised $33,246.49, a huge jump from last year and a leaps and bounds over the event’s fundraising goal of $25,000.
“We had a lot of dedicated dancers who have come back year after year that really made this possible, and we have a bunch of four-year dancers,” said Kate Johnson, Associate Director for Community Service for Appalachian and the Community Together (ACT).
Appalachian Educators won the Marathon Master cup this year, an award given to the team that raises the most money for Dance Marathon, with their total of more than $6,000 this year.
He highest individual fundraiser was Troy Colverd, who alone raised $1,670 for the cause.
Watauga Youth Network and Parent to Parent received funds from the Dance Marathon this year, which began at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Legends on the campus of Appalachian State University.
In the weeks leading up to Dance Marathon, each participant does their best to raise $150, which equates to $10 per hour of dancing, through various fundraising activities throughout the year with proceeds benefiting local kids and families through two local non-profits; Western Youth Network and Parent to Parent Family Support Network.
“$150 is about the cost it takes per child for one week of after school care through the Western Youth Network,” said Kate Johnson, Associate Director for Community Service for ACT.
Once they have raised $150, participants bust their moves (or a thousand) in a 15-hour marathon of dancing to rocking tunes and strutting their stuff on the dance floor. The marathon began at Legends at Appalachian State University at 10 a.m. and continued through 15 hours of fun, music, food, activities and more until 1 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23.
“Last year, we raised just over $25,000,” Johnson said.
“This year was just great. People really seemed to enjoy themselves and we had a great fundraiser this year.”
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