Motivational Speaking: DePauw Dance Marathon

Today was DePauw's third annual Dance Marathon for Riley Hospital for Children. That is right! It is only their third marathon. Now I have been to quite a few dance marathons either as a speaker or even just as a dancer but this marathon was special to me. These students had worked so hard to put it together...I mean some of them are the ones who started it to begin with three years ago. I am sure there was moments of exhaustion, worry, even potential defeat but they kept going. When I arrived as a Riley kid I was welcomed by so many happy faces and apologies for them running a little behind schedule...note that this was probably because of the snow (shown in the post cover photo) that came out of nowhere. Yet, even snow couldn't stop these Marathon crusaders they just kept going! Their dance marathon was 6 hours and there goal was "$50K FTK" when the final drum roll sounded and the numbers were revealed they raised over $60K!! I couldn't be more proud of these students and the work they did. Even with the ups and downs, twists and turns, and crazy amounts of snow they were all truly excited to be there making a difference for Riley children. There is no bigger blessing for me than to go to a marathon where you see the passion in their hearts shown in all that they are doing. They even went out of their way to make all of the children feel welcome...to what extent you may wonder? Well, because of my dietary issues they went and bought me my own special peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the day! They didn't have to do this...I am just one Riley "kid" and by no means a kid anymore...but they cared anyway! It didn't matter whether the Riley kid was 2 or 23 they went out of their way to make us all feel welcome! Also when the Riley kids were speaking, including myself, they stood there and listened; they weren't texting, looking at their phones, or anything else. You could really see on their faces that they cared about what you were saying and were glad to make a difference in Riley lives! So, Again I couldn't be more proud...this was my best DM experience and I can't wait until next year and hopefully be there the entire time. :) So this is a shorter post but I wanted to post it so everyone knows how wonderful this dance marathon is and what great work these students are doing at their school. Try to support them and make this marathon grow in any way you can whether it is my joining one of the committees next year, donating money, donating time, or if you have some form of entertainment you do or can loan I am sure they would appreciate any help in making this DM shine each year and remember it's all FTK (For the Kids)!