Because of a new letter-writing campaign, Ball State University's Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Phi Mu sorority have increased the amount of money raised for Riley Children's Hospital.
Ellen Meyer, Phi Mu's social chair, said last year the chapters raised $7,500, and this year a little more than $8,000 has been raised with more expected. The letter-writing campaign was a decision based off of what other schools around the country do for the Dance Marathon Phi Mu and Sigma Alpha Epsilon are having today from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Ballroom, she said.
"The Dance Marathon is a national thing, and at the conference they gave us tips and strategies to make it more successful," Meyer said. "The letter writing is something I picked up when I went to the conference, and both chapters decided to do it. It's been very successful."
Meyer said the first marathon started at Penn State University, but Indiana University was the first school to do the event for the Children's Miracle Network at Riley Children's Hospital.
Chris Fitzgerald, Sigma Alpha Epsilon's Dance Marathon chair, said during each hour of the event there will be a different theme. One hour will be karaoke, another hour will be disc jockey songs and then families from Riley Children's Hospital will speak, he said. Teams of six will participate for prizes.
"During the 12 hours, the participants will support Riley by standing on their feet," Fitzgerald said. "There will be activities for people to do while standing such as playing Twister, participating in a root beer pong tournament, DDR, Guitar Hero and cards. Each team that wins an activity gets points, and at the end of the marathon the team with the most points wins."
Fitzgerald said he already has seen success for the event because of all the work Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Phi Mu did to send letters to friends and family asking for donations, getting food and finding announcers.
He said the event would not be possible without the Student Government Association donating $1,000, because if it were not for the organization, the work would have been more difficult. During the planning process, some restaurants did not want to donate food because they already gave food for Super Bowl events and did not want to give twice in one month, Fitzgerald said. Because of that, SGA helped with costs that needed to be covered for more promotion.
Meyer said last year about 100 people participated and this year about 120 people are expected to come. Like Fitzgerald, she said the increase in the number of people and the amount of money donated comes from the increased efforts of the chapters, the letter-writing campaign and the event's more professional appearance. As a class project, she said she came up with the idea for a Dance Marathon logo, a T-shirt design and posters.
"From years past, people have said how much they enjoyed it," Meyer said, "but the biggest part of the event is when the [Riley] families speak, everyone stands, listens and realizes who they are benefiting and what Riley does for people."
For more information contact:Chris Fitzgerald at (765) 669-3835
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