Hello!! I hope everyone is doing well, and welcome back!
This past weekend, 44 of our amazing sisters participated in Florida State's annual event, Dance Marathon. Not only did our sisters participate as first-time and repeat dancers, but as morale captains and Dance Marathon delegates. We are extremely proud to say that as a whole, our chapter raised over $39,300, including both generous donations from before and during the marathon. Throughout both 20 hour shifts, our sisters engaged in multiple activities, including learning a line dance, hitting the gong for every $100 they raised during the marathon, silent disco, getting to spend time dancing with their sisters, and listening to stories from the miracle families every hour. These activities and stories helped to increase dancers' passion for this cause and keep their moral high. Speaking of morale, our sister, Jill Kirkpatrick, was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be a morale captain this year for DM, allowing her to work with a team of almost 100 fellow captains to plan and prepare activities to keep dancers' energy high during DM. The captains did this by creating themes for dancers to dress up for and creating the line dance, along with many other activities. Jill said her main job was to "...make sure everyone was having the best time possible, especially during the late hours of the night...keeping a positive energy going through the civic center." To sum up her experience, Jill stated "I had the opportunity to meet so many amazing people through being an internal member for DM this year and would do it again in a heartbeat!" We are so proud of you, Jill!!
All of our participants loved the experience they had at the marathon, Sara Dramis called it a humbling experience, being thankful that "Dance Marathon made standing for 20 hours feel like two" and that she was able to be surrounded be others passionate about the health and wellness other others, like Alpha Chi's miracle child, Sage. Joanna Savino stated that "Being a first year dancer at Dance Marathon was eye opening. Listening to miracle families tell their stories was truly inspirational and something I will never forget." We are so proud of our dancers for pushing through the marathon, and doing so passionately! Not only are we grateful for our dancers, but for our DM delegate, Abby Bolger.
Abby has worked all year long towards Dance Marathon, helping to coordinate with dancers and make arrangements for the marathon itself. Abby said that she wanted to be the delegate for Beta Eta because of how moved she was by the miracle families stories at the marathon last year. She also stated that "This entire experience has made me so proud of the entire chapter for coming together and raising money for the families that spend long days and nights in the hospital while their children are fighting for their lives. I spent a total of 40 hours standing for these families [this past marathon] and have never felt so inspired," expressing her gratitude for this chapter, her position, and this cause. We are incredibly proud to have had so many sisters not only participate in Dance Marathon this year, but to give it their all and work so tirelessly for this cause. Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time and generously raised funds for Dance Marathon, we can't thank you enough for making all this possible!
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| Abby Bolger, Dance Marathon Delegate '18-'19 |
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| Garnet Shift!!! |
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| Taylor Anderson & Kate Allen |
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Joanna Savino & Emily Gordon
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| Hannah Zimmerly and Sara Dramis |
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| Jill Kirkpatrick & Savannah Sotomayor |
This past weekend, 44 of our amazing sisters participated in Florida State's annual event, Dance Marathon. Not only did our sisters participate as first-time and repeat dancers, but as morale captains and Dance Marathon delegates. We are extremely proud to say that as a whole, our chapter raised over $39,300, including both generous donations from before and during the marathon. Throughout both 20 hour shifts, our sisters engaged in multiple activities, including learning a line dance, hitting the gong for every $100 they raised during the marathon, silent disco, getting to spend time dancing with their sisters, and listening to stories from the miracle families every hour. These activities and stories helped to increase dancers' passion for this cause and keep their moral high. Speaking of morale, our sister, Jill Kirkpatrick, was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be a morale captain this year for DM, allowing her to work with a team of almost 100 fellow captains to plan and prepare activities to keep dancers' energy high during DM. The captains did this by creating themes for dancers to dress up for and creating the line dance, along with many other activities. Jill said her main job was to "...make sure everyone was having the best time possible, especially during the late hours of the night...keeping a positive energy going through the civic center." To sum up her experience, Jill stated "I had the opportunity to meet so many amazing people through being an internal member for DM this year and would do it again in a heartbeat!" We are so proud of you, Jill!!
