The UF Dance Marathon team took second place in the nation for its 2018 fundraising total.
The team, one of 300 teams that fundraise for pediatric hospitals, raised $3,026,420.19 in 2018, as announced on Facebook by the national Dance Marathon program last week.
Also in the top 10 was Florida State University in fourth place with $2.15 million and the University of Central Florida in sixth with $1.58 million, said Brian Golden, the content development director for Dance Marathon. Indiana University came in first place with $4.18 million.
All the money raised from UF’s Dance Marathon goes to support UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, Golden said.
“It’s this generation fighting for the next,” he said. “College students across the country are leading this movement on their own.”
Back in March, 5,000 participants from UF also broke the school’s fundraising record in the 2018 Dance Marathon, said Caroline Rollosson, the public relations director for UF Dance Marathon.
Dance Marathon members hope to beat their previous goal this coming March, but the main objective will always be to fundraise for children’s hospitals, Rollosson said.
“We say that ‘every penny is a miracle,’” Rollosson said. “I really think it was the sense of togetherness that UF has that made this possible.”
Contact Kelly Hayes at khayes@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @kellyrhayes.
A child runs through the crowd of dancers during Dance Marathon at the O'Connell Center on Sunday. Dance Marathon is an event where volunteers must stay awake and on their feet for 26.2 hours.
