“Thirteen premature babies die each day in the U.S.,” UCI’s Care-A-Thon website states. “More than 4 million newborns die each year.” Luckily, University of California, Irvine has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, to care for these newborns. UCI’s NICU has saved countless newborns, using advanced treatment technology and groundbreaking surgery techniques. On Friday, February 25, 2011, nearly three hundred UC Irvine students attended a charity event called UCI Care-A-Thon, to help raise money for UCI’s NICU.
UCI Care-A-Thon is a dance party for UC Irvine students, or “dancers,” who raised at least twenty-five dollars for the UCI’s NICU. For their generous fundraising, dancers received a gift bag, including t-shirts, hats, and gift certificates to various restaurants and other locations. The event provided games such as Dance Dance Revolution, free food, and live entertainment, including reggae band Lucky Charms, indie singer Davis Fetter, as well as various dance troupes. Near the end of the night, the raffle winners of several wonderful prizes were announced, including an Epiphone Special signed by Conan O’Brien and a collection of Glee DVDs.
UCI Care-A-Thon began in 2008, started by a group of UC Irvine students. In 2010, the organization was invited to join the Student Alumni Association. However, UCI Care-A-Thon still remains as a student-run organization.
This year proved to a better turnout than last year’s Care-A-Thon, with nearly double the number of participating students. Aaron Levine, Director of Finance of Corporate Relations, felt that one of the reasons more students showed up was due to the change in hours. This year, the dance marathon went from six in the evening until midnight. Last year, the dance marathon lasted for twelve hours.
“We thought it would be more flexible for busy students to reduce the time span from twelve hours to six hours to help get more students out and create a long-standing tradition,” said Levine.
However, this year’s UCI Care-A-Thon appears to be falling behind. Last year, UCI Care-A-Thon raised around $15,000. As of February 28, 2011, UCI Care-A-Thon has only raised $9,581. Jorge Ancona, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Alumni Relations, hoped to raise $20,000 this year. Luckily, UCI Care-A-Thon is still accepting donations on their website. Despite the lack of money fundraised this year compared to last year, Ancona still considered this year’s event a success due to the increased amount of UCI students who participated.
“I believe this year’s UCI Care-A-Thon was successful because every year the attendance has continued to grow,” said Ancona, “and we are encouraging students to get involved in the philanthropy.”
UCI Care-A-Thon has raised thousands of dollars for UCI’s NICU and each year, more students get involved. With UCI Care-A-Thon’s help, UCI’s NICU has been able to continue to help more newborns survive. With such a successful charity, this UCI tradition will not be ending anytime soon.