Dance Marathon Day: Gov. McMaster honors student organization for fundraising efforts
Posted on: March 23, 2021; Updated on: March 23, 2021
By Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu, 8037775667
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster recognized the continued success of University of South Carolina Dance Marathon in a ceremony Tuesday at the State House.
McMaster issued an official proclamation declaring March 23, 2021 South Carolina Dance Marathon Day. The proclamation recognizes University of South Carolina Dance Marathon for raising $582,303 in 2020-21 to support the kids at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital, despite all the challenges of fundraising during the pandemic.
Why it matters:
- Dance Marathon is the university’s largest student-run philanthropy.
- Founded in 1999, the students have raised more than $8 million to support the children’s hospital.
- Dance Marathon funds the entirety of the hospital’s Child Life Department, dedicated to providing comfort and assistance for the patients and their families.
“The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well in South Carolina,” the governor says.
University President Bob Caslen joined the students and the governor for the ceremony and praised the students for their hard work.
“They understand the secret of success in life is to serve and to put the needs of other people before your own,” he says. “As the father of children and grandfather of grandchildren, I know how much it means, when they need support, to have someone to stand behind them."
“We knew we had a commitment and opportunity to change the lives of thousands of children and families facing incredible hardship through a pandemic in which hospitals were stretched extremely thin, and thus we set our sights high,” says UofSC Dance Marathon President Grace Lady.
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