Dance Marathon 2019 Success Stories

Duke Children’s is proud to announce that our five dance marathon programs raised a collective $446,390.25 in 2019. Campbell University celebrated their first ever Dance Marathon event, raising $6,455.69 in their inaugural year. The exciting news – the growth of the Dance Marathon movement will continue in the Raleigh-Durham market as High Point University is establishing a program with their first event set for spring 2020. We are so proud of these programs and all they do to make miracles happen for the kids!

Dance Marathon History

Dance Marathon started in 1991 after Ryan White passed away the summer before starting at Indiana University. In 1984, Ryan had been diagnosed with HIV following a bad blood infusion. He became a spokesperson and when he lost his battle, four of his friends came together to stand behind Ryan with the hope of keeping his memory alive. They started the first dance marathon at Indiana University, IUDM, to raise awareness and funds for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals as Ryan was treated at a CMN Hospital. Three years later, a movement began as four other universities started their own dance marathons.

Dance Marathon Leadership Conference

Since 1991, Dance Marathon has grown to over 300 universities and colleges and raised over $250 million dollars for local CMN Hospitals. The leaders of these programs come together at Dance Marathon Leadership Conference each summer to share fundraising ideas, expand connections with one another, and develop strategic plans to inspire our communities. There will be four programs that fundraise for Duke Children’s attending DMLC this year, July 19-21 in St. Louis, MO. The students representing Duke Children’s come from NC State, Elon, UNCW, and High Point who will collaborate with a host of other programs from around the nation.