Going, Going…Gold! A September recap with UADM

The University of Alabama Miracle Network Dance Marathon has recently completed its' campus-wide “GO GOLD” campaign, in the the month of September. September is nationally recognized as childhood cancer awareness month, and is commemorated with a gold ribbon. As well as Going Gold, Dance Marathon also Slid into DM with a giant slide on the Ferguson Center Promenade as well as raised $50K on $100 Day. What a golden month! We could not be prouder of our miracle makers and staff for their dedication and involvement this September. To share some info on Going Gold, we have Ashley Rich: VP of Campus Involvement, Meghan Poljak: Director of PR and Sarah Urbanski: President.

The Vice President of Campus Involvement, Ashley Rich stated, “Going gold means that we are trying to get the entire campus to really embrace the gold ribbon of childhood cancer awareness month by getting registered to be miracle makers and reaching out to family and friends to fundraising for UADM! We are really aiming to get different organizations on campus to participate with us along with highlighting individuals who have already ‘gone gold’ and have started their fundraising with UADM 2017.”

According to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund website, during the month of September:
“25,000 families around the world will get the horrible news that their child or teen has cancer.
6,667 families will experience the loss of a child.”

Much like many organizations who raise funds for cancer research, UADM raises funds for Children’s of Alabama so they can research what causes cancer as well as provide treatments to patients.

Director of Public Relations, Meghan Poljak states, “Going gold is all about childhood cancer awareness. It is about those kids who are suffering every day and how we can acknowledge and support them in all the ways that we can. This month we want to highlight as many people as we can because they are true champions. We are so fortunate to have such love and support from organizations around campus and our advisors."

UADM hoped to provide awareness and raise as many funds as possible during the month of September with events such as $100 day,  so that we could allow more miracle makers to register and access their donor drives and be prepared for the event this February.

“UADM Goes Gold is an opportunity for us to raise awareness for what our organization stands for. So many children are treated at Children’s of Alabama every year for cancer, and even a few of our miracle children were treated there for cancer. By going gold, we are showing our support to those kids and we are encouraging the campus to stand with us against pediatric cancer and all pediatric illnesses” said UADM President Sarah Urbanski

Going Gold even highlighted special Miracle Makers on campus doing exceptionally well in meeting their fundraising goals. There was one miracle maker for every day in September. These honorees included: Blake Harrison, Megan Condi, Brianna Dinicola, Hannah Parker, Andrew Schwitzgebel, Cameron Fink, Meghan Gilhooly, Ellora Lalla, Alexis France, Teresa Ziemba, Maddie Leupold, Lauren May, Morgan Frick, Rachel Robinson, Logan Derbes, Emma Dizza, Anne Dillon Loflin, Alexandea Keene, Elizabeth Cusick, Maxwell Martin, Meredith Duncan, Maura Pawlowski, Madison Ballinger, Erin Bilder, Peyton Ballet, Emily Jeris, Miranda Lessner, and Rachel Guiles.

In recognition of Going Gold, UADM had an event called “Slide into DM” in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness, recognition for our event this February and also implementing a registration push. This fun event took place on September 21st and allowed students to be a kid again, much like many events operated by Dance Marathon.

Besides all the other events going on we couldn’t forget to mention the overwhelming success that was $100 Day!!! If you still have not heard about this initiative, DM staff was encouraged to raise $100 dollars each on September 14th in honor of going gold. UADM raised 50,160.58 FTK!

Wow, what an awesome month. Stay tuned for more news from UADM including more staff highlights and updates from Beat Auburn Beat Hunger as well as LSU WEEK!

FTK, and ROLL MIRACLES ROLL!