Greek Life chooses new charity

After celebrating the completion of its $500,000 pledge in support of the University of… After celebrating the completion of its $500,000 pledge in support of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute this past December, Pitt’s Greek Life has turned its attention to another philanthropy.

The donations raised from this year’s annual Pitt Dance Marathon, sponsored by Greek Life, will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The 2012 installment of the event will be held in the Fitzgerald Field House from 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26. Sign-ups began Monday at pdm2012.eventbrite.com.

“It is sure to be a fantastic event and benefits an outstanding cause,” event organizer Kyle Miller said.

Although Greek Life canceled the 2010 Pitt Dance Marathon due to snowy conditions, organizers have high hopes that this year will be a success. Last year’s dance marathon was held on Bigelow Boulevard in April.

For the all-day event, students can either choose to be a dancer (a 24-hour participant) or a moraler (a 12-hour participant).

“The hardest part is having the endurance to stay on your feet for 24 hours,” Miller said.

Participants are encouraged to raise a minimum amount of money to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. For Greeks, it costs $400 to sponsor the first two dancers, $175 for each additional dancer and $100 for each moraler. Non-Greeks are asked to raise $100 per dancer and $50 per moraler. The inclusion of non-Greek organization participation began last year.

“We want to make it easier for students who are not a part of the Greek community to participate in Pitt Dance Marathon so that it is not a Greeks-only event but is a campus-wide fundraising event,” event organizer Shannon Krohe said.

The Pitt Dance Marathon is organized by an eight-person committee, which falls under the authority of the Greek Week executive board. Greek Week consists of year-long fundraising activities organized by leaders from different sororities and fraternities. In previous years, Greek Week has supported a number of other foundations, such as Ronald McDonald House and Make-A-Wish Foundation.

About 100 student contestants helped raise $32,000 for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute last year.

Krohe is optimistic about this year’s marathon’s fundraising outcome. “We have high hopes that this year’s Pitt Dance Marathon will be extremely successful in raising awareness and support for a wonderful cause,” Krohe said.