Pitt Dance Marathon puts Greeks close to $500,000 goal

In the final moments of the Pitt Dance Marathon, everyone was exhausted.

The once-energetic… In the final moments of the Pitt Dance Marathon, everyone was exhausted.

The once-energetic dance moves had slowly waned until the 66 dancers participating just swayed to the music. But in the last minutes of the 24-hour charity event, “Sweet Caroline” burst over the speakerphone, spurring a final rally amongst the crowd.

Despite being tired and hungry, the dancers huddled together and sang along to the Pitt tradition.

The marathon was over, and they had raised more than $30,000. It was $20,000 less than the organizers’ goal, and they attributed it to a change in the marathon’s format. Matthew Balsbaugh, one of the organizers, said that they lowered the sponsoring fees for dancers — their main source of donations — to try and make it more accesible to non-Greek organizations.

The annual Pitt Dance Marathon, sponsored by Greek Life, took place this weekend from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday in a tent on Bigelow Boulevard. Dancers from 29 Greek organizations — and for the first time, non-Greek organizations like Black Action Society — spent 24 hours on a temporary dance floor in the middle of Bigelow Boulevard.

All proceeds generated from fees — paid by organizations to sponsor dancers ­— went to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, which plans to use the money to build a lung and thoracic cancer laboratory. It is part of a six-year long $500,000 fundraising drive from the Greek community.

Stacey Gnora, one of the event’s organizers, said that before this year’s PDM, the Greek community had passed the $425,000 mark. By the end of this year, it might reach its goal.

Since 2005, Greek Life has been the main group involved in PDM,. This year, however, more organizations participated in sponsoring dancers.

Freshman Carmen Mitchell— sponsored by the Black Action Society — said she had a personal reason for participating.

“I’m doing this for my grandmother and aunt who both had cancer. Also, for the people who died of cancer and the people who survived like my aunt,” Mitchell said. She added that her aunt’s breast cancer is in remission.

PDM will continue as a part of Greek Week, but after the $500,000 is met, its revenue might benefit another charity, Balsbaugh said. He said that any change to where the money goes will be determined by next year’s organizers.

“Hopefully by the end of the year with all of our fundraising efforts we will reach that goal,” Gnora said.

Because this year’s location was outside on the Boulevard, the event attracted more attention from non-Greek students, said Matt Balsbaugh, one of the event’s organizers.

During the Techno Hour, from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Saturday, “it was literally packed from the front of the stage to the back of the tent,” one of the event’s organizers, Nicole Elfner said.

“It looked like an exclusive club with everyone lined up and security guards at the door,” she added.

But the dance party wasn’t necessarily the highlight of the night.

Zach Weber said his favorite part was listening to Shannon Barry speak. Barry was a former patient at UPCI and came to talk about the importance of donating to cancer research.

“He was a graduate from Pitt, so it was very personal. The mood went from intense dancing to shock and awe and then back to intense dancing,” he said.

Despite being awake for so long, many dancers were able to stay energetic throughout the event.

“The loud music keeps you going, especially Zumba,” junior Andrew Kaylor said.

Three dance instructors led students on Friday evening in dancing in the style of Zumba, an aerobic fitness program danced to Latin music. Organizers also brought in line dancing instructors Saturday afternoon, which transitioned into country hour at 3 p.m., which helped break up what was otherwise DJs.

Kaylor and Chris Fetter, both juniors and brothers in Delta Tau Delta, helped their fraternity, which raised $2,100, including a $1,000 donation from the fraternity.

As part of the fundraiser, there was an auction during which students could buy items to support the dancers. One item, a 10-minute sit in a chair, sold for $22 to one of the dancers..

When the event was came, most of the dancers were ready to go home.

“When I get back, I’m going to shower and then eat,” Weber said.

Editor’s Note: This article has been changed to correct the name of a speaker.