HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – Hope College will kick off their 17th annual 24-hour Dance Marathon for the Helen Devos Children’s Hospital this Friday night, March 13 starting at 7 p.m.
Over 800 students will be dancing and performing with families served by the hospital on hand to share their stories throughout the marathon. Recently students at West Ottawa in Holland raised over $23,000 in their fourth dance marathon and they will be on hand performing their unique student choreographed dance during the marathon.
The public is welcome to watch at the Dow Center on the campus of Hope College. Since 2000, the Dance Marathon has raised a total of more than $1.3 million. The marathon’s efforts received recognition by the Michigan Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2003.
The Dance Marathon is a nationwide movement involving more than 150 colleges and high schools, all raising money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. It began in 1991 at Indiana University in memory of Ryan White, who contracted the HIV/AIDS virus through a routine blood transfusion. White passed away in 1990, and the following year, friends began the first dance marathon at Indiana University.
