 As a transfer to FIU, I wanted to see the best ways I could get involved that would have the most impact on the world around me. I searched through different organizations and stumbled upon Roarathon, (Dance Marathon.) I had no idea what it entailed but I remembered skimming over one of my friend’s posts on Facebook when she participated and she seemed so passionate about it that I decided I would give it a try. I applied and would you look at that, I got the position!Â
Still blind to what I had really gotten myself into, there were two things I knew for sure. I was going to be impacting the lives of children and I was going to be dancing for 17 hours straight. Initially, I didn’t understand why we had to participate for 17 hours straight… but when I got connected with the cause, 17 hours seemed like so little when the movement meant so much.Â
I learned many different things. For starters, I learned that Dance Marathon raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Something I never realized was that a hospital that many of us have visited ourselves or have known someone who has been treated at, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital was FIU’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospital and was directly benefiting from our efforts, making it that much more important to participate. Another thing I learned was, that just last year $8 million dollars was raised to support the various children’s miracle network hospitals around the country and FIU’s Roarathon was part of raising a fraction of this money. If these words don’t speak to you maybe the numbers will.  Nicklaus Children’s Hospital alone sees 450,000+ patients and 73% of those patients are on Medicaid or other financial assistance programs. To put that into perspective, i’ll give you some statistics, just $25 will give 50 premie-sized diapers to a child who’s in need. $500 dollars will give 100 meals for families. $5,000 dollars will give 1 vital signs monitor used to measure patients blood pressure, temperature and oxygen levels. Lastly, $50,000 will provide life-saving equipment needed for treating children with complex conditions. Alone the FIU community has raised over a million dollars and our goal is to only continue growing.
Roarathon needs all the help we can get and we want the whole FIU community to be a part of making a difference in a child’s life.Â
To sign up as a dancer or donate visit this linkÂ
(https://events.dancemarathon.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=24998)
If you ever ask your self why? remember these things, you will be giving a child hope, you will be giving a child the chance to dance again, you will be giving a child the opportunity to fight. You’ll do it because a child’s smile is worth more than 17 hours on your feet. You do it for the kids.