To cap off Dance Marathon at LSU’s annual fundraiser for the Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, Baton Rouge community members stood together for 12 hours on Saturday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The fundraising total for this year was $93,647, the group announced.
The day included games and dancing with families, students and donors. Some of the families with children served by the donations, called miracle families, were present at the Big Event to advocate for those going through similar situations.
“You’re literally here looking at the miracle kid who your money is going toward helping, and so you get that firsthand experience with that kid that you don’t get at other events and other pushes,” said Delaney Mobley, vice president of marketing at Dance Marathon at LSU. “You’re just able to push yourself, and push the people in the room with you to fundraise the most.”
Mobley described the Big Event as a party with a purpose. While the community can come together and celebrate the accomplishments of Dance Marathon, the larger goal of raising money continues the help Dance Marathon provides, Mobley explained.
Saturday’s festivities marked the 10th Big Event. When the children’s hospital separated from the main parent hospital a few years ago, Dance Marathon made a pledge to raise $1 million. Dance Marathon now has raised over $1.7 million in 10 years, according to Mobley.
“We do this every year because we made that pledge,” Mobley said. “These kids are future Tigers. They are future community leaders and our politicians. So, we like to say it’s this generation fighting for the next. These kids can’t wait because they need funds, and they need critical care now.”
Jenna LeBlanc’s son Jensen has been a patient at the children’s hospital since he was 7 months old. Jensen is now 8, and his mom has seen “college students inspiring young kids to do good things” throughout the years.
“It is important to our family to come because we get to not only be around those college students who have fought so hard to have raised money for our children’s hospital, but also to connect with other miracle families and know that we are not alone,” LeBlanc said. “It is a day of positivity because sometimes you can feel alone and isolated in the hospital … it’s just a time of unity and positivity and to just lean on one another.”
LeBlanc said every year she and her family participate in Dance Marathon events, it pushes her as a mom to want to do something good.
“I’ve seen how much it helped his (Jensen’s) heart grow even bigger, I mean the kid has a huge heart, but he wants to open a hospital one day and be a CEO and you know help all the kids and save the world, and I just think that this is just an amazing thing Dance Marathon does,” LeBlanc said.
The key element of the Big Event is that all participants stand from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., which symbolizes standing for those at the hospital who can’t.
Jessica Bakalis is an LSU alumna who joined Dance Marathon as a freshman and continues to participate in the Big Event. She said standing together for that long is important for the greater cause.
“You get everyone in one single space and for 12 hours we’re all on our feet, they start to hurt toward the end, but we’re all enduring the pain and trying as hard as we can in pursuit of that big total at the end,” Bakalis said. “The comradery of it all, standing next to the families, but also students who also chose to give up their Saturday to do something amazing is just a really cool feeling.”
Alana Marcello, the children’s miracle network specialist at Our Lady of the Lake Foundation, said Dance Marathon unites students to bring awareness to patients and families.
“They are not only impacting the current patients we have,” Marcello said. “But the dollars they are raising, the efforts they are putting in, are affecting and impacting the future of our patients and the future of our hospital.”
Dance Marathon changes the narrative that hospitals have to be scary and intimidating, Marcello said.
“They bring out the positive aspects of a scary situation and a negative situation,” Marcello said.
Maris Jones, a sophomore majoring in child and family studies, attended the Big Event.
“It is important to bring awareness to things you care about,” Jones said. “Even though you’re a college student, you may not think that you have a big voice right now, but people are really interested in what you’re doing at this time in your life. I think it is important to show what you care for.”
To donate to Dance Marathon or learn about other events, visit @dmatlsu on Instagram or the LSU Dance Marathon website.
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