By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Dance Marathon was introduced to the Geneseo community in 2022 and since that beginning the local young people involved have raised over $80,000.
The 2025 Dance Marathon will be from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at Geneseo High School.
The event is open to high school students who each have raised $25 which will be donated to the St. Ambrose Dance marathon which is then funneled into the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
At the University of Iowa and St. Ambrose University, Dance Marathon is a year-long organization providing support to families receiving treatment at Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Mandy Kelly and her husband, Ryan, were instrumental in introducing Dance Marathon in Geneseo. They continue as sponsors of the event at GHS, along with high school teacher Sara Bertelsen.
By holding the Mini Dance Marathon at GHS, the high school students are helping the colleges raise money.
Kelly explained that the GHS students are in charge of marketing the Dance Marathon and businesses and community members can help support the effort by donating to an individual, the dance captains, or by supporting the group as a whole.
Selected dance captains work to create an event for dancers and local families. All members individually raise money through the Donor Drive and that money, along with contributions from the community is used to hold the Mini Dance Marathon in an effort to raise a grand total which is donated to the Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
During the actual Dance Marathon at the high school, students dance, eat, play games, and listen to local families share their personal stories.
Kelly said the stories are from families who share the medical journey of one family member and the impact the Stead Family Children’s Hospital has had on that journey.
Students begin raise money in December and continue through the March dance event at the high school. The GHS Dance Marathon has raised funds through bakes sales, volley-tennis tournament, pass the buckets, local business donations, individual family, friends, and food share nights.
“While working to raise money, the students involved are not aware of the grand total and the large donation is revealed at the of the event on March 8,” Kelly explained. “The students get to see their impact through the family stories and through the final donation number. Over the past three years, GHS Dance Marathon has raised over $80,000 for the hospital.
There is still time for people in the Geneseo community to make a donation to the Dance Marathon…”If they know a high school student that is ‘dancing,’ they can donate to their personal donor drive, or a general donation can be made eon our donor drive,” Kelly said, and she listed the site: https://events.dancemarathon.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=6580.
COMMENTS FROM SOME GHS DANCE MARATHON CAPTAINS:
-Natalie Reisner – “For me Dance Marathon means bringing together our community to support others. Dance Marathon is such a large part of my life and I think it is such an amazing experience and has shaped how I view different aspects of the world. I have seen and been a part of many different charities, but DM is just different in a good way. High schoolers can taka a minute to reflect and understand people’s struggles and find a way to support them. I chose to be a captain to spread the message we are making to encourage others to take a step into the community that surrounds us. Dance Marathon allows me to be myself and have a blast dancing to music and seeing the joy it brings to all of the families.”
-Hazel Harris – “Being a part of Dance Marathon means giving back to the organization that supported my family throughout my treatment. My favorite part of Dance Marathon is being able to contribute to an organization that makes a direct impact on the quality of life that families in the hospital experience.”
-Payton Snider – “I love seeing the joy on the parents’ faces when they see all of the dancers that have contributed to helping other families just like them. They have a sense of relief knowing that there are people out there that are helping relieve the stress of possibly losing a child like they had. It’s also encouraging to donate more seeing the kids who have been through much more than I have in my life, even though they are younger, be so happy and dance like nothing has ever happened.”