Students will hear loud music echoing off the walls of Carmichael Gymnasium’s third floor courts from Friday at 7 p.m. to Saturday at 7 p.m. as voluntary insomniacs raise money for the N.C. Children’s Hospital in the fifth annual Pack-a-thon.

Pack-a-thon is a year-long organization that raises money for Dollars for a Difference Children’s Fund.

This is the fifth year for this 24-hour event filled with dancing and games in lieu of sitting or sleeping.

Known in the past as ÔDance Marathon,’ this year’s event is now called Pack-a-thon to encourage people to come out, despite their dancing confidence.

“You could spend the whole 24 hours without dancing,” Diana Coyle, senior in communication and chair of the Pack-a-thon committee, said.

Those uninterested in dancing can be “moralers” — people who come to the event dressed up and ready to motivate the dancers. Also, there are volunteers who help with the logistics of the event.

Performances by Grains of Time, step teams, Dancing with Wolves and group shagging will appear throughout the night.

Components of this year’s Pack-a-thon are a pep rally Friday evening, televisions showing the basketball game against UNC-Chapel Hill and a midnight dodgeball tournament.

“We weren’t going to skip the game, so we are providing ways to watch it while dancing,” John Vance, senior in religious studies and pre-med and finance chair of the event, said.

He explained that next year the schedule will be carefully reviewed so it does not overlap the weekend of the UNC-Chapel Hill basketball game, Asia Nite or ballroom dancing competitions.

“This year we know it’s the weekend of the UNC game à so we are starting off the event with a rally à hopefully we’ll beat Carolina,” Coyle said.

Competition during the Pack-a-thon event will be the last thing on students’ minds. Students, such as Shannon Feller, a senior in communication, cannot wait to see families and children from the N. C. Children’s hospital.

“I love what [Pack-a-thon] stands for and the people in it à the people who do it have such wonderful morale and spirit,” Feller, the hospital chair on the Pack-a-thon committee, said. “Seeing kids and family makes it all worth the while.”

During the event, students will have the opportunity to meet families and children benefitting from the fundraiser.

“Hearing families tell stories and seeing children is an amazing feeling and a real inspiration to get more involved,” Meredith Cannon, senior in animal science and campus outreach chair, said.

According to Coyle, some are enlightened by the patients and their families’ accounts.

“Hearing parents tell their stories is a real inspiration for people to keep going and realize their life isn’t that bad,” Coyle said.

The families and children will arrive around 1 p.m. on Saturday, the dancers’ eighth hour.

“By that time, we are delirious from standing on our feet so long, so we really appreciate the heartwarming stories,” Vance said.

Another favorite tradition in this event is the time-keeping device, Vance said.

Without the use of watches or clocks so as not to intimidate dancers, Pack-a-thon marks the time with a group line dance on the hour of every hour.

“The line dance at the very end when everyone just collapses is the best feeling,” Vance said.

With a minimum of raising $50 to participate, Pack-a-thon welcomes all dancers, moralizers and volunteers.

According to Coyle, last year’s numbers ranged around 150 people — this year it may increase.

“This year we are hoping to have at least 300 people,” Coyle said.

Registration is online at www.packathon.org and will close Friday evening.

Students will have the opportunity to register at the event, but it is suggested to come by 6 p.m., Feller said.

“It’s definitely an event to look forward to,” Jenna Tie, publicity chair and a sophomore in public relations, said. “And one to look forward to for years to come.”