Early this month, more than 100 Cary-Grove students raised nearly $15,000 for the Lurie Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network at Student Council’s first-ever Dance Marathon.

The participants raised money independently, then came together at the event to hear stories from some of the “miracle” families that Lurie Children’s Hospital has helped, and to reveal the final amount raised. True to its name, the Dance Marathon also included the participants learning a dance.

“Each Dance Marathon has its own dance,” Student Council member Jack Warnecke said.

The participants learned portions of the dance throughout the event. The remainder of the night was filled with fun games, like a giant version of sharks and minnows. At the event, as a gesture to honor the children at the hospital, all of the participants had to remain standing.

“The idea came from my cousin’s school in Iowa City, where the event was a huge success,” Warnecke said. It seemed like a lot of fun, so I researched it and found out you could do one in partnership with the Lurie Children’s Hospital.”

Dance Marathons hosted by universities and communities usually last around 12 to 36 hours, but, since it was their first time hosting an event like this, Student Council took a smaller-scale approach with a four-hour event.

The goal for the event was to raise $10,000, but the event was a huge success, easily surpassing that. Each participant raised money through an online donation system set up by Children’s Miracle Network.

The money will go toward toys for the children in the hospital to cheer them up and help distract them from their treatment. It will also go toward the cost of the treatments and new research.

With the event as successful as it was, it may become a Cary-Grove tradition.

“While I am graduating next year, I hope it becomes an annual event at CG, because I know everyone had a lot of fun and it was a great success,” Warnecke said.