Highest total 'for the kids' despite economy

More than 500 University students gave up their right to sit, shower and sleep from Saturday morning to Sunday evening at the 11th annual Rutgers University Dance Marathon.
The event required all participants in the College Avenue Gym to stand for 32 hours straight to raise money for the Embrace Kids Foundation, a New Brunswick organization that helps kids with cancer and blood disorders.
As New Jersey’s largest, student-run philanthropic event, participants raised a total of $323,717.90 this year — the highest total ever.
“Just touching the heart of a little boy who has nothing is great,” said Assistant Director of Outside Entertainment Sandra Golis, with tears in her eyes. “And no matter how tired you get, and no matter how much your feet hurt, and no matter how much you have to clean up, or set up, it’s just a phenomenal feeling to know that you can raise so much money in a world that there isn’t enough money for these kids.”
To participate, each dancer had to raise a minimum of $320, or $10 for every hour of dancing.
Many dancers raised money for their fraternities, sororities or organizations to see who could raise the most. This year, sorority Delta Gamma raised the most as an organization.
“It was a hard year fundraising, so a lot of people weren’t able to meet their total, but the dancers who did turn up are doing fantastic and really did raise money,” said Angelica Grimaldi, assistant director of community outreach.
She said the radio station Magic 98.3 also held a radio-a-thon that has been raising money as people called in.
“Every little bit counts,” said Grimaldi, a Rutgers College junior.
Hurricane Productions provided continuous music and entertainment, but the directors decided to add more side entertainment this year, she said.
The purpose of the side entertainment — chest-high game and craft tables, video games and various performances — was to keep spirits high during the hard early morning hours when excitement tends to wane, she said.
“This year we had so much going on,” said Grimaldi. “We had a ’90s theme hour, a band play at 5 a.m. [and] a lot going on between those hours, so the dancers were pretty lively.”
There were also pool tables, ping-pong tables, theme hours and food to keep the guests entertained. Computers and study zones were available for the students to stay on top of their schoolwork.
“We knew we wanted to make it as great as we could,” said Director of Operations Jeremy Bond, a Rutgers College senior. “We wanted to update the technology to coincide with the new decade.”
At midnight, the gym even turned into “Club DM,” a two-hour nightclub that played dance music to allow non-participant University students to party for only $5.
This year’s marathon differed from past marathons in other ways.
“One new thing was the dancer bins,” Grimaldi said.
The bins were previously put in the annex gym. This year, they stacked bins along the wall so the dancers could use the annex gym for basketball, dodge ball and other games.
Charles Rifici, a Rutgers College senior and member of the fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi, is a four-year dancer who noticed the new changes.
“They have a lot more side games as opposed to main events on the stage, which allows people to kind of do their own thing a little bit, and they have more of the constant music, so those people who want to dance the whole time can actually do that,” he said.
One highlight of the event was when families from the foundation came to see the dancers. Grimaldi said many of the fraternities, sororities and other organizations involved have an adopted family they support — some even have three.
“We’re all looking forward to having our children come, and we get to hang out with them for a few hours, and they get to see how hard we were working,” she said.
Alpha Kappa Psi member Kristel Roz, a Rutgers College senior, said she was touched when she met her fraternity’s adoptive family.
“They constantly remind us that it’s for the kids, and that’s really touching,” she said.
Grimaldi said they work all year with the families they fundraise for by visiting hospitals, sending packages and staying in contact through phone and e-mail.
“I get a nice feeling while I’m here. Everybody gets all excited, and I just feel really good,” Rifici said. “And also, it’s kind of like a challenge. I like to see if I can do it year after year. If you can do it before, you can do it again.”
Planning and running this enormous event was no easy feat.
“Everybody worked as hard as they could,” Grimaldi said. “It was hard.”
Bond said the process started last May.
“[We] spent countless hours in the office, making phone calls, sending e-mails, setting up meetings [and] I don’t know how many people I’ve met and how many people I’ve got in touch with just to make it all happen,” he said. “You spend 10 months planning it … and 32 hours goes by in a flash.”
He said the event would not have been possible without University Student Life, who helped with resources like the projector and recommendations for the sound company.
“I know it’s a lot of work and people won’t understand it right away,” Rifici said. “But if you actually go through and don’t cut corners, then it’s actually something really worthwhile and can take a lot out of.”