Eight hours until show time. It’s the first Friday afternoon of February and the Ohio Union is humming in anticipation of one of our biggest events of the year. Months of meticulous planning on the part of Buckeyethon members and Ohio Union staff has all been building up to the next 36 hours. All of the hard work that they have put in will finally pay off when tonight’s opening ceremony begins and approximately 4,800 registered dancers begin participating in the 2016 Buckeyethon Dance Marathon- and the best part? It’s all For The Kids.
“Every kid deserves to run and jump and laugh and dance. Every kid deserves to live carefree.”
Above are the logo and words presented on Buckeyethon’s website, and this sentence represents the root of Buckeyethon’s mission: For The Kids. These three words are used to link fundraising dance marathons across the nation in the fight for children who need it most. Courtney Thomson, who is Buckeyethon’s Director of Marketing and Communication, told me that “everyone has his or her own reasons for being FTK, and it means something different to everyone,” and that is what makes this event so special.
Tonight and tomorrow, throughout the Ohio Union, students will come together not only with each other, but also with the families of 17 special children who currently have or have fought pediatric illness at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Some of these families have been with Buckeyethon for multiple years and some are participating for the first time. They will be able to witness the support and the For The Kids mantra in action. Each child has their own page on the Buckeyethon Kids section of the website (which dons the heading “Every Kid Deserves to be a Buckeye!”) where you can read about their personality, their favorite things and their personal journey in their fight against pediatric illness. This weekend those children will get to see and feel the overwhelming support of students like us who care. Most of us will never understand the hardships these kids are facing, but we can help, we can donate and we can dance.
Dancers will interact with each other and the Buckeyethon Kids, as well as participate in various activities and- of course- dance! This event is enough to get even the shyest of movers onto the dance floor, if even just to learn the Morale Dance. For anyone who doesn’t know what the Morale Dance is, I am here to tell you: It is a type of line dance that is choreographed and taught to dancers by students from Buckeyethon. The dance is set to a mash-up of today’s top hits (I would like to think Adele would participate if she was an Ohio State student) and a few throwbacks; and, as Courtney explained to me, serves as “the perfect pick-me-up throughout the event,” as well as a way for dancers to work together and learn the routine.
Eight hours (give or take the five minutes it took you to read this blog post) until show time- and I couldn’t be more excited to witness it. Tonight, thousands of Ohio State students will descend upon the Ohio Union in what I believe is one of the most perfect examples of why I am so proud to be a part of the Ohio State community.
For more information, visit the Buckeyethon website.