Last spring, Binghamton University‘s fraternity and sorority community hosted its first in-person dance marathon since 2019, raising a whopping $50,000 for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse, the region’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospital (CMNH) — a 350% increase in fundraising and the highest year-to-year increase out of over 400 dance marathons throughout the United States and Canada.
“The kids are just amazing and make it so worth it,” said Brianna Fell, president of the planning committee. “It’s stressful to put on an event like that — to entertain a thousand people for five hours. But it’s so worth it and fun, and our committee is so dedicated.”
“Participants can come with spirit and excitement while we celebrate our Miracle Kids, who are out of this world.”
Dance marathons have been held at Binghamton University and sponsored by the fraternity and sorority community since 2013, but in spring 2022, the annual event was officially rebranded as BaxterTHON. Energy was high, students were excited to be back in person and, as a result, BaxterTHON far surpassed pre-COVID fundraising totals.
Fell is thrilled with what she and her committee have achieved with BaxterTHON. The success of the last year’s event led her to Atlanta, Ga., for the 2022 Dance Marathon Leadership Conference, where she connected with dance marathon programs from across the country. At the conference, Fell and her team were honored with the Miracle Maker Award for programs in existence for 10 to fourteen years. After the event, the organizers emailed Fell to tell her that Binghamton University was a clear standout for the award.
Awards aside, Fell said that it’s all for the kids. She had health issues as a child and understands the situation that CMNH families find themselves in. She loves to support the cause and the children that she meets through it. Last year, a child named Alexandria attended the dance marathon and loved it so much that she stayed for the entire event; her father had to continuously run outside to put more money in the parking meter.
Fell remained in touch with Alexandria, who was eager to come back to campus this fall to help raise awareness and announce the 2023 theme: Space Jam.
