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Dance Marathon Set for April 1

March 21, 2017

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Dance Marathon Week March 27-April 1; Bowling Night Fundraiser Set for Thursday, March 23 (registration information below)

MACOMB, IL – "Sometimes in life there is that moment when it's possible to make a change for the better. This is one of those moments" [Elizabeth Glaser]. In a little over one week, hundreds of Western Illinois University students and volunteers will come together to dance the day and night away to make a change for the better.

The fourth annual WIU Dance Marathon (DM) will kick off at noon Saturday, April 1, and for 12 consecutive hours, participants will make the final push to raise $100,000 for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH) of Greater St. Louis. Since the event's inception at Western, nearly $146,000 has been raised for CMNH. If Western meets its $100,000 goal this year -- which will push its four-year total to nearly one-quarter million -- it will move WIU into the "record books" so to speak for a school of its size in the St. Louis Children's Miracle Network market to raise that amount in only four years.

The total raised for the 2016-17 effort will be revealed at the end of the April 1 event. Children's Miracle Network patients and their families will take part in the event and will be recognized throughout the day and evening.

A special bowling night fundraiser will be held from 10 p.m.-midnight Thursday, March 23 at Digger's College City Bowl in Macomb. The event is $10 per person or $55 per team of six and $12 per person at the door. Registration for the event can be completed at https://goo.gl/forms/nxa5jpkRFquEq9nu2. Payment can be made at the event check-in March 23.

Monday, March 27-Saturday, April 1 is designated DM Week, with events planned each day to raise money.

On Monday, March 27, the WIU Dance Marathon organization will be set up in the University Union Concourse from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. collecting donations and sharing information about the April 1 event.

On Tuesday, March 28, there will be a "Dum Dum Drive" outside of the Macomb Walmart store. The event is a competition between teams to gather donations.

On Wednesday, March 29, Buffalo Wild Wings in Macomb is offering 10 percent from each meal purchased to the Dance Marathon. The required coupon can be found on the group's Facebook page.

Early check-in for the marathon will be held in the Union Friday, March 31 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m.

The yearlong fundraising efforts culminate April 1, with the Dance Marathon from noon-midnight in the University Union Grand Ballroom. The final event honors the 12-hour shifts of doctors and nurses, as well as children who are unable to stand. The 2016 event raised $70,800; the 2015 event raised $53,000; and the 2014 event raised $22,000.

Since April 2016, the WIU Dance Marathon has been working to raise money for the 2017 event to reach the target goal of $100,000. Efforts have included an earlier Buffalo Wild Wings night, a fun run/walk, the first-ever Miracle Jeans Day and a kids dance clinic and numerous day-long fundraising pushes. The money raised is divided between St. Louis Children's Hospital and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center. If a child from Macomb were to get sick, he or she would likely receive medical care from one of the two hospitals.

To register for, or to donate to, this year's Dance Marathon, visit tinyurl.com/wiudm17. Questions about the event can be directed to University Dance Marathon Advisers Ashley Katz at AE-Katz@wiu.edu or Nicholas Katz at NB-Katz@wiu.edu.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing