Dance Marathon Blitz Week

Dance marathon, if you haven’t yet heard, is a year-long fundraiser that involves much of the student body at Hope College. The annual Dance Marathon event itself, held on March 6-7 this upcoming spring, is a 24 hour dance-a-thon that raises money for and stands in solidarity with Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and the kids that have been helped and are being treated there. It is a way for Hope College to interact with the community and positively impact the lives of the families at Helen DeVos. 

Just because Dance Marathon is in the spring doesn’t mean that there aren’t events and fundraisers going on this fall as well. This week, known as Blitz Week, was especially packed for Dance Marathon fundraising. Throughout the past week there has been the Donut Run 5K, Buffalo Wild Wings fundraiser, Mr. Dutch, a Coffee House donut eating contest and much more. 

The Donut Run 5K on Saturday, October 12 was a wild success. There were 719 registered participants, all who loved eating donuts so much that halfway through the run members of Dance Marathon Dream Team had to go out and purchase three hundred more. Sophomore Emma West is on the Finance committee for Dance Marathon and volunteered for the donut run this past Saturday. She says of the experience: “Despite the cold weather, it was so encouraging to see people come out and support the kids, and it was so invigorating to see how positive and cheerful everyone was to be there.” 

Another awesome Dance Marathon fundraiser this week was the annual Mr. Dutch, a fundraiser put together by the Sigma Iota Beta sorority. This event is a male pageant where the contestants are judged on questions, talents, and a fashion section. Maas Center Auditorium was packed on Monday, October 12 to the point of requiring more chairs to be set up. The pageant raised a lot of money and laughter in the process. Sophomore Drake Doyle ended up winning the title of “Mr. Dutch” by performing a Barack Obama impression during a reading of Green Eggs and Ham. 

On Thursday, Sophomore Maya Hecksel attended another fundraising event for Dance Marathon: the donut eating contest in the BSC. She had a great time and says, “It was a really fun atmosphere and so cool to see all the sororities and fraternities at Hope coming out to support Dance Marathon.” That kind of support, both financially and through the community is what Dance Marathon is all about. 

Dance Marathon is more than the 24 hours that people will be dancing this spring. It is a year long process, meaning there are still plenty of ways to get involved. Kappa Chi is hosting a movie night fundraiser in the BSC Schaap auditorium on October 26, November 11 marks the Residence Life Lip Sync Battle in the BSC Great Room and Pillar Church will be hosting a chili cook-off on November 14. Snag some friends and head to some events “For The Kids” as we all get ready for Dance Marathon.