AU will be hosting its first ever EagleTHON, a 12-hour dance marathon and fundraiser, on March 21 in the Tavern.
The event will be held as part of a fundraising effort for the Children’s Miracle Network, according to Isabel Moua, the executive director of the event and a sophomore in the School of International Service.
“[These hospitals] are all custom-made for kids, with windows, their height and bright colors everywhere,” Moua said. “They do so much to brighten the kids’ hospital stay and make it better.”
Children’s Miracle Network is a non-profit organization that does not deny children healthcare for financial reasons, so money raised by events like EagleTHON helps cover the costs of providing care and making participating hospitals child-friendly, according to Moua.
The money that is raised through EagleTHON will go directly to the Children’s National Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C., where it helps fund things such as research, amenities and activities for the children.
“It’s basically a 12-hour celebration of a year-long fundraising effort for the children who go to the Children’s Miracle Network,” Moua said.
The event will not just include 12 hours of dancing. According to Moua, it will also include games, testimonials from children from Children’s National Medical Hospital, performances, zumba and yoga.
Students interested in participating in EagleTHON can register beforehand at eaglethon.org for $15, which includes a donation, entrance to the event and three meals. Students who register the day of the event will pay $45.
Only registered dancers are allowed to attend the event.
“All of the fundraising is done online,” Moua said. “Each registered participant, or dancer, has a page of their own where their family or any other donor can go and donate money.”
This year’s EagleTHON has a fundraising goal of $27,000. Donations can be made to individual dancers or to EagleTHON as a whole, according to Moua. The amount donated to a dancer is not tied to the total time he or she spends dancing.
Similar dance marathons such as Penn State’s THON and the University of Maryland’s Terp Thon are held annually and have been successful in the past. This year’s Penn State’s THON raised over $13 million for the Four Diamonds charity, which helps fund childhood cancer treatment, according to the event’s website. Terp Thon raised over $604 thousand for Children’s Miracle Network, according to the event’s Facebook page.
Phi Delta Epsilon and Phi Mu were the driving forces behind bringing EagleTHON to campus, according to Moua. The philanthropic work of both organizations is focused on the Children’s Miracle Network and EagleTHON acts as an extension of that mission.
Although the event is sponsored by both organization, EagleTHON is an independent organization with its own executive board that funds the event with its own budget.
Another dance marathon was held at AU several years ago, according to Moua, but was only open to members of Greek life. She hopes that having the event be more inclusive will encourage more people to sign up and help make it successful.
“With a lot of philanthropic work you don’t see where the money is going, but with EagleTHON the kids we’re helping are in the community,” Moua said. “It stays in D.C. and goes directly to kids in our own backyard.”
Moua hopes that EagleTHON will gain enough momentum to become a tradition for years to come.
Further information and updates about EagleTHON can be found on the organizers’ Twitter and Facebook.
dmudry@theeagleonline.com
