Students danced for 16 hours straight at this weekend’s Dance Marathon fundraising event for Duke Children’s Hospital in the Talley Student Union State Ballroom, helping this year’s event raise a record amount of funds. 

In this year at NC State, the event raised a total of $67,001.24 for children suffering from chronic illnesses, beating its $50,000 goal by about $17,000. Proceeds from the previous Dance Marathon were donated to Duke Children’s Hospitals, one of 120 hospitals within the Children’s Miracle Network.

About 250 students participated the marathon, which began at 7 p.m. on Friday and lasted until 11 a.m. on Saturday. 

This year’s Dance Marathon was the largest and most successful Dance Marathon ever to be held at NC State. Last year’s event, the second at NC State, raised $41,022.59 with about 200 people attending. 

Various musical performances took the stage throughout the night to entertain the dancing guests, including The Ladies in Red, an all-female a capella group, and the Lion Dance Group.

The event was largely organized by Chamberlin Collier, the president of Dance Marathon and a senior studying political science. 

During the event, several children and families who receive care from Duke Children’s Hospital visited the marathon to inspire and interact with the dancers. 

“Kids got to interact with our students,” Collier said. “They are all local families from the community that benefit from the money being raised. The students are able to see firsthand how their efforts are able to help the local community.”

This year’s Dance Marathon had a carnival theme. 

“We had carnival games for kids to play with to help them interact with students,” Collier said. 

Dance Marathon was also the first overnight event to be held in the Talley Student Union, according to Collier.

Student organizations competed against each other during the Dance Marathon in teams to raise the most money for the hospital. 

Several sororities and fraternities participated at the event in a Miracle Cup Competition, hoping to raise the most money for the cause. At the conclusion of the event, the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority came in first with $4,089 raised.

Maddie Afshar, a member of the Morale Committee for the Dance Marathon and a sophomore studying psychology, said about 25 women from the sorority attended the event. 

“I recruited a bunch of my sisters [from Kappa Alpha Theta],” Afshar said. “I am sort of a liaison between the team and the organization.”

Afshar, who has been involved with the group for two years, said she joined Dance Marathon her freshman year, knowing little about the organization in the beginning.

“It was really an eye-opening experience, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life,” Afshar said. “I will definitely try next year and try to have a more rigorous role. It’s a great experience, and you get to meet some of the children who have been to the hospital. It’s great to be part of something so meaningful.”

Collier said her favorite part of the event was getting to work with an “amazingly dedicated group of students.”

“They are an outstanding, incredibly passionate group of students,” Collier said. “They worked so hard for the event to be successful, and they deserve all the credit for the success of the event this weekend.”

This was the third Dance Marathon, and Collier expects the event to continue in future years.

“There will be another marathon next year and hopefully there will be more people involved and we can raise more money for the kids,” Collier said.