University of Kentucky students will break out their dancing shoes at Memorial Coliseum this weekend. They won't be at a concert, however, they are doing so for a very special cause.
Students will be taking part in DanceBlue, a 24-hour, no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon at the University of Kentucky to raise money for the Golden Matrix Fund. The Golden Matrix Fund benefits cancer research, children with cancer and their families at the
UK Pediatric Oncology Clinic.
For those of you who don't know how important this is to our student body, I encourage to learn more about the great project. You can listen to an interview (click
here) I had recently with Senior Kara Sutton on my radio program, UK Perspectives on WUKY Radio. Or you can click
here to view a DanceBlue video.
This weekend's event marks UK's fifth annual dance marathon. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday at Memorial Coliseum. Since the first marathon in 2006, DanceBlue has raised more than $1.3 million for the UK Pediatric Oncology Clinic. This year, DanceBlue will have nearly 660 dancers from 120 different student organization teams.
Most importantly, it is not too late to help support this cause. The campus and Lexington community are encouraged and invited to participate in DanceBlue. At 6:30 p.m. today, anyone interested is welcomed to gather on Stoll Field to cheer on dancers as they enter the marathon. DanceBlue officially begins at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum with a pep rally-like atmosphere and learning the 2010 DanceBlue line dance. Each hour of the marathon has a different theme, with coordinated music and activities.
From 4 p.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, are known as family hours. Family hours begin with a talent show featuring children from the clinic, a memorial hour to remember those that have lost the battle with cancer and to focus on those that are struggling now and at 7 p.m. the grand finale with the total fundraising amount revealed.
If you are unable to attend DanceBlue, you can watch it live streaming on the Web at
www.danceblue.org. You can also connect with DanceBlue via Facebook (
www.facebook.com/danceblue) and Twitter (
twitter.com/ukdanceblue). Share your thoughts and encouragement with the dancers by using the hash tag #DB10 on your tweets.
If you'd like to support DanceBlue financially, click
here to make a donation or text "DANCE" to 50555 and $5 will be added to your cell phone bill to go to DanceBlue.
Online Community registered users log in to comment