Shands Hospital for Children at UF received $23,000 in donations Wednesday, courtesy of a 7-year-old, his family and an online video of them dancing.
Gainesville’s Pence family won the money and placed second in the Primrose Schools Family Dance-off competition benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Tyler Pence, 7, has been a patient at Shands since he was 3 months old. He has been treated for a cleft lip and a notch in his gum.
The family earned a $20,000 donation to Shands at UF and a $3,000 cash prize at a Wednesday ceremony from the Primrose Children’s Foundation. The family decided to give its cash to the hospital.
This year, 117 families across the nation submitted 30-second videos of themselves dancing. First place went to the Peetz family of Kannapolis, N.C., and third place went to the Froehlich family of Xenia, Ohio.
Nathan Pence, Tyler’s father, said his family is happy about winning second place and donating the prize money to Shands at UF.
“We actually looked at the videos of the other families, and we were secretly pulling for the Peetz family,” he said. “If we didn’t win it, we wanted them to win it.”
The Pence family submitted a Brady Bunch-themed video as “The Pence Bunch” and earned about 30,000 online votes, said Eden Joyner, the public relations director for Dance Marathon at UF.
Dance Marathon, which took place Saturday and Sunday at UF, raised $886,726.15 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and promoted the Pence family’s video. UF students raised money for the charity and then stood for 26.2 hours straight at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Primrose Schools sponsored the third annual video contest and partnered with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Through the competition, the chain of preschools encourages families to fight childhood obesity.
Dr. Scott Rivkees, chairman and professor of pediatrics at the UF College of Medicine, said the donation from the Pence family shows the dedication and caring nature the Gainesville community has for Shands at UF.
“I’ve been here three months now, and never have I felt a community that has so much spirit, passion and dedication for children’s causes,” he said.
Tyler said he is happy about taking second place and donating his prize to Shands at UF because he is helping to save other kids’ lives.
“The next one, we better win first place,” he said. “Go Gators!”
