The annual Bridges Dance Marathon took place on Jan. 18, from 4-8 p.m. at New Trier High School’s Northfield Campus gym. The event was organized by the Bridges Dance Board, which raises money for the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago every year. This year, the group exceeded its goal of raising $100,000 and collected $220,080.43 in total.
“This wouldn’t have happened without everyone’s hard work,” junior Anna Virgili, executive board member on the Bridges dance board, said. “The donor would match our final total up to 100,000, so I think this really pushed people to raise as much money as possible. Every donation would have double the effect and this made everyone work 10x harder.”
Lurie Children’s Hospital benefits from the Miracle Network Dance Marathon—which the Bridges Teen Leadership Board is a part of—a program of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals). CMN Hospitals raises money for 170 children’s hospitals to support 10 million child patients each year across the U.S. and Canada. Donations are used to fund life-saving treatments, healthcare services, medical research, and medical equipment.
Dance marathon programs have raised over $7.5 million dollars for Lurie Children’s Hospital since 2010. Students involved in it have the opportunity to take on leadership roles within the program and contribute to a good cause.
“We’re [fundraising branch of Teen Leadership Board] in charge, and we all join together with the whole board,” junior Greta Blaugh, fundraising incentive director on the Bridges dance board, said. “We actually have some visits to Lurie’s in Chicago through the board.”
New Trier is one of the six schools on the North Shore with students on the Bridges Teen Leadership Board, which was founded in 2014 as a way to bring several North Shore communities together to support their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, of which Lurie Children’s Hospital is one. The Bridges Teen Leadership Board offers leadership opportunities for New Trier students who are interested in volunteer work and be closely involved with the cause they’re supporting.
“They [Lurie Children’s Hospital] basically try to provide service for as many children as possible without denying it for financial reasons,” Blaugh said. “That’s why it’s really key that we raise money for them, because there’s a lot of families who currently have a patient in cancer treatment that they might not be able to afford.”
Blaugh, along with senior Rosie Woodman, was in charge of planning the fundraiser, which was open to anyone who wanted to come. According to her, all the patients and their families were invited from Lurie Children’s Hospital, and board members and their friends and families were welcome to come as well.
“It’s basically just a fun event where you can meet all the patients’ families and dance with them,” Blaugh said. “There are a bunch of themed games, and we have music playing the whole time.”
Every year, the dance marathon has a different theme. This year’s theme was “Decades.” Towards the end of the event, the “Morale Dance” takes place, a dance that the “Morale Team”—made up of a few members of the fundraising branch of the Teen Leadership Board—teaches to everyone in attendance.
Virgili played a big role in setting up the event and also participated in the group dance and the grand reveal at the end.
“When we revealed the number, the energy was unlike any other year because no one thought it was possible to raise double the amount we did last year,” Virgili said. “People dressed up costumes, face painted, we had lots of amazing food, and the energy and excitement in the room was so much more visible than previous year.”
Overall, this year’s Bridges dance marathon was a success and the Bridges dance board hopes to have another successful fundraiser next year.
“The dance marathon is so rewarding because of all the patients that come and share their stories,” Virgili said. “We can see how our board is making a difference in the community and it makes me want to work hard and harder every year. It’s an amazing event and it allows me to appreciate all the hard work that goes into helping Lurie Children’s Hospital.”