RIVALRY AND REVELRY: A TALE OF TWO DM's (UADM vs. DM at LSU)

Hey there Miracle Makers! As The University of Alabama’s football team has remained undefeated with a total of 10 wins, UADM has tried to follow in the team’s footsteps. UA Dance Marathon kicked off the month of November with the annual “Beat LSU week,” as University of Alabama competes with Louisiana State University’s Dance Marathon. This fundraising battle allocates funds for the research, facilities and treatments of miracle kids at Children’s of Alabama and Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Louisiana.  

BEAT LSU WEEK began on the Sunday before the LSU/BAMA game with the release of the “So They Can” campaign. This campaign represents the idea that UADM runs to raise money for miracle kids, “so they can” one day attend college and live their dreams just like current DM staff and participants. VP of Marketing, Sonny Franks said, “So They Can" sums up why we do everything that we do FTK. We want to give these kids the opportunity to live their childhoods to the fullest and grow up to accomplish whatever it is they set their minds to. We raise money so they can receive the best treatment possible. We stand on our feet for twelve hours so they can lead the lives they deserve.”

On Monday, DM’ers took full advantage of Halloween and dressed out in costumes for a “canning craze.” Costume day meant UADM staff was all over campus with our usual antics of dressing up and proclaiming the story of the familiar acronym we have all come to know and love: FTK. For the Kids.

On Tuesday, UADM partnered with Chipotle for a Spirit Night, where Chipotle gave half of all proceeds to UADM, specifically Children’s of Alabama. The line was out the door, and the amount raised FTK was even more impressive. Chipotle night raised a total of $1,448 towards UADM’s BEAT LSU WEEK total!

On Wednesday, during the day, there was a race to get donations from all 50 states. Graphics were updated accordingly until all the states were colored in, meaning the staff and miracle makers received donations from a donor in every state in America.  At night, UADM had a SK80’s Night at Super Skate sponsored by The Harbor on Sixth.

On Thursday, UADM’s goal was to get 100 registrations by the end of the day as the main event in February was official 100 days away.  There was also a Phi Delt event at Red Shed with proceeds going to Children’s of Alabama Towards the week, UADM was at the Ferguson Starbucks selling their game day buttons like “and LSU” and “ hurts 2 good.”

On Friday, there was a final push for fundraising. All of UADM came together to raise the most money possible to beat LSU’s Dance Marathon, FTK. As people drove to LSU, UADM had an on-the-road donation game, where people donated whenever they got a “Roll Tide” or saw licence plates with the letters “F,T, or K.”

At the end of the week, 32, 814.24 dollars were raised. From canning in costumes, to skating through the 80’s, to gameday buttons galore to connecting with donors from all over the United States---it was truly a successful week. Saturday was filled with angst on and off the field as people waited for UA to score and find out the grand total. Both philanthropies were able to rise over $83,000 together for their respective hospitals! Many thanks to all who were involved in this amazing endeavor and it is from here we look forward to project our hope and excitement for all we can accomplish, with UA Dance Marathon-- For The Kids.