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Northwestern dance marathon in Evanston raises $1 million for charities
Updated: March 29, 2012 4:03PM
They danced the night away Friday and Saturday, and when they finally left the dancefloor early Sunday, nearly 1,300 Northwestern University students were no doubt tired and ready to shower off 30 hours’ worth of sweat, but they had also raised more than $1 million for charity.
The university’s 38th Dance Marathon kicked off at 7 p.m. on Friday at the school’s Evanston campus, and when it ended at 1 a.m. Sunday the participants had raised a record-breaking $1,107,670 to benefit The Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation for childhood cancer and the Evanston Community Foundation, a release from the university said.
The event was the culmination of a yearlong fundraising effort and the weekend’s activities included a silent auction, a 10K run, and a Saturday afternoon alumni leg of the dance marathon. Mini dance marathons were also held over the past week for Northwestern alums in Minneapolis, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Chicago, the release said.
The funds raised this year will go to The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation for childhood cancer research. The foundation was established in memory of a 14-year-old soccer athlete and ‘A’ student from Wilmington, Del., who lost his fight against acute myelogenous leukemia in 2007.
The Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) will receive 10 percent of funds raised. As the secondary beneficiary for the 15th consecutive year, ECF will use this year’s proceeds to help Evanston thrive through grants to local organizations and to help fund ECF’s own programs that assist nonprofit organizations.
