Pitt Parties for a Cure: Pitt Dance Marathon donations nearly double in 10th year, surpass goal

This weekend, Pitt students hit the dance floor instead of their books for an all-nighter. 

Pitt Dance Marathon lasted from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday in the Cost Center. The annual fundraiser is part of Greek Week, a series of fundraising events that Pitt’s Greek Life has hosted since 2005. This year, participating groups raised $153,067.99 — more than the initial $100,000 goal and almost double last year’s total of roughly $82,000. 

More than 50 teams, who collected funds from friends and family members through email and letter campaigns, as well as donor drives, participated in the dance marathon. 

Songs like Beyoncé’s “XO” and Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” blasted during this year’s dance marathon, while students from various organizations danced, played games, talked with friends and cheered each other on. 

The event was an all-in effort to support the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, an organization that collects funds to donate to children in hospitals across the nation. PDM’s donations will go toward research, training, medical equipment and uncompensated care, according to its website, at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. 

Each year, since its start in 2005, the event has gained more exposure, and organizers have tried to encourage non-Greek affiliated organizations involved. This year, organizations such as the Black Action Society and Pitt Pathfinders participated.

“We had a very big increase in people, especially from non-Greeks,” Villanueva said. “There was a big criticism of PDM, that it was only a Greek event, so we really wanted to get the ground running on targeting the non-Greeks, and they came out in full force, especially the freshmen.”

This year, Villanueva credits the increase in non-Greek dancers and moralers to PDM board’s efforts in targeting freshmen who are looking to get involved on campus.

“I think it was more of us not understanding that they were busy themselves. For the non-affiliated freshmen, they come in the fall looking for things to do, so this is the first year we hit it big during orientation week. I think that made the difference, targeting the freshmen who were looking for something to do,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said he and other members of PDM spent a year planning for the event, by making promotional videos, recruiting new dance marathon participants and fundraising.

“It can be stressful, but I’m really happy how everything turned out so far,” Villanueva said during PDM. 

Ty Houy, a senior majoring in information science, began attending PDM as a freshman. This year, she was the “Greek Week Overall,” responsible for “answering questions relating to all things Greek Week.” 

Houy said she is passionate about supporting the Children’s Miracle Network.

“The foundation that we are donating to is really a great opportunity. It lets the children have somewhat of a normal childhood, even though they’re in a hospital,” Houy said. 

According to Andrew Villanueva, co-president of PDM, approximately 570 people registered, and most were non-Greek students. This marked an uptick from the 385 people registered who registered last year to participate, according to previous Pitt News reporting. Villanueva said freshmen made up a large portion of non-Greek dancers and moralers. 

Dancers raised at least $150 and committed to 24 hours on their feet as part of requirements. The long hours dancing can become tiring for particpants, so moralers register to attend the event to cheer fellow dancers on. Moralers have to raise a total of $125 and only dance for eight hour shifts, which ensures refreshed dancers on the dance floor ready to cheer the other dancers on, Houy said, who is a former moraler.

 Lauren Nace, a junior majoring in communication and digital media, said dancing is the least she could do in support of kids who battle their whole lives with serious illnesses.  

“I’m dancing because the kids have to struggle, sometimes their whole lives, so I can put in one night to help them out,” Nace said.