IU Dance Marathon is an organization dedicated to raising money for Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health in Indianapolis. The event often has patients and former patients from the hospital visit to their stories and participate in events at the Dance Marathon Nov. 2-4.
August
Aug. 25-31: Campus Awareness Week served to raise awareness for IU Dance Marathon and registered dancers. If signed up during this time, the fee is $20, a $5 discount.
Aug. 31: For the Kicks is a recruitment event at an IU men’s soccer game at the Bill Armstrong Stadium. There is a carnival set up, and some of the children from Riley Hospital for Children come out to share their stories.
September
Sept. 9-15: The Oaken Bucket Challenge is a fundraising event against Purdue University Dance Marathon to see who can raise the most money per person registered. Purdue won the challenge in 2017.
Sept. 27: The Day of Hope is the fundraising push day. All committee members and dancers go to a centralized location, called the hype room and raise money for the entire day. The fundraising is a mixture of social media, face-to-face communication, texting and calling. Senior Aubrey Hudson, vice president of communications for IUDM, said IUDM raised over $480,000 at the event in 2017.
October
Oct. 26: The current deadline to register to be a dancer. Hudson said this date is subject to change.
November
Nov. 2-4: The Dance Marathon is a 36-hour period when participants dance, eat and listen to stories from current and former Riley Hospital for Children patients. Depending on the amount raised, participants dance for 12, 24 or 36 hours. To participate, dancers must raise a minimum of $500.
A previous version of this article incorrectly named Riley Hospital for Children on second reference. It also incorrectly stated the date of the For the Kicks event. The IDS regrets these errors.
