Organizers of the second-annual Dance Marathon, which ran for 12 hours from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday in the Tavern, raised half of the amount it did last year to fight HIV/AIDS.
Cassie Passinault, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the event's director of dance relations, said participants were asked to try not to sit for the duration of the event. This sacrifice was meant to represent the struggles children diagnosed with HIV/AIDS experience every day, she said.
In order to keep everyone motivated throughout the night, there was a DJ, food, board games, bubbles, arts and crafts and various speakers from organizations committed to fighting HIV/AIDS.
Nevertheless, the main focus of the event was for people to dance.
"We're dancing for those who can't," Passinault said.
The Tavern was decorated with balloons, streamers and signs. Participants wore bright green t-shirts that said "Can you last for 12 hours?"
For those who could not stay at the event for 12 hours, pay-by-the-hour tickets were available. Last year, the event lasted six hours, but members of the event's taskforce thought they could stretch it to 12 this year, according to Passinault.
Kelly Siart, an event participant and freshman in CAS, said she would probably not stay for the entire duration of the event, but enjoyed herself.
"It's for a good cause and I think this event is a good idea for fighting AIDS," she said. "It seems pretty organized."
More than 80 people registered for the event - around the same number as last year, Passinault said.
Rachel Nover a freshman in CAS who participated in the event, said while she didn't think there were too many people present at the time, she believed more would come as the night progressed. She said she had a good time at the event.
"I think what's interesting about it is that it's different," Nover said.
Women's Initiative and other campus organizations, including Eco-Sense, sponsored the event. An eight-student taskforce from Women's Initiative met every week to plan the event, Passinault said. They had different specific jobs, such as organizing the catering and sorting out logistical issues.
The event raised $10,277.56, as opposed to the approximately $20,000 raised the previous year, she said. The amount includes the money accumulated from registration, canning, tabling and any additional money students raised independently.
Although the fundraiser brought in half of the amount acquired last year, Passinault said she is not dissatisfied.
"You can't be disappointed with $10,000," she said. "It really is an amazing amount of money that will help many children."
Last year, one individual was able to raise $10,000 alone. Taking this into account, the event collected around the same amount of money as last year, she said.
All of the money will go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Foundation, a non-profit organization that attempts to prevent HIV/AIDS through research, advocacy and prevention treatment programs, according to the foundation's Web site.
Passinault said she believes the Dance Marathon is here to stay, and hopes it will continue to be an annual campus event.
"One of the overall goals of the dance is to have something for our youth to put together and a sense of tradition and community service," she said. "We're trying to bring that to campus."
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