This year, Ball State University Dance Marathon raised a record-breaking $610,086.23 for Riley Hospital for Children, which goes to fund the hospital’s palliative care program and the Magic Castle Cart.
Alyssa Thompson, BSUDM’s director of fundraising, said it was very shocking to find out how much money was raised at Dance Marathon on Feb. 20.
“We actually had less dancers this year than last year,” Thompson said. “I’m very proud of all our dancers; they were all on board [with raising money].”
The Magic Castle Cart distributes gifts to children who are patients at Riley Hospital. Gifts include puzzles, stuffed animals, playing cards, lip gloss, crayons and coloring books to children. According to BSUDM’s website, it costs about $30,000 a year to maintain two carts.
One cart is fully funded by Ball State, and even has a designation to prove it. In November, during an event called Miracle Week, BSUDM raised over $30,000 in a day, which covered the cost of the cart.
The palliative care program aids children who have serious illnesses. The program aims to provide relief from pain and stress of illness for the whole family. Many times, children who receive palliative care have terminal diagnoses. The program costs around $1 million to fund each year.
“Ball State is the largest funder of the palliative care program,” Thompson said. “We’ve been told if [Ball State] wasn’t a funder of the program, it wouldn’t exist. That’s kind of cool.”
Audrey Brazel, a junior dietetics major and member of BSUDM’s morale committee, said Dance Marathon weekend was one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
“When I saw [more than] $610,000 go up, I immediately burst into tears,” Brazel said. “We all worked so hard, and it’s amazing to see Dance Marathon growing as an organization at Ball State.”
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