UNC Charlotte Students Raise $14,565 for Children’s Hospital Through Dance Marathon

The Ninerthon dance marathon at UNC-Charlotte brought in $14,565.66 for Levine Children's Hospital this April. Since 2014, students have gathered over $500,000 to support kids who need medical care.

Students ran the six-hour event, which mixed dancing with sports. Chris Frederick, who leads Internal Affairs at Ninerthon, told The Niner Times: "[Through the event], we tell stories and raise money for kids that are going through the same thing."

At the event, three young patients spoke about getting better. Aiden got a new heart when he was four. Gracie beat a rare cancer. Nolan made it through major heart treatment as a baby. Now they're all doing well: Aiden is 12, Gracie is 12, and Nolan is 11.

The funds go to 30 different medical areas at the hospital. Past gifts bought special tools like machines that make walking easier and devices that find veins quickly. The money also pays for books and brings therapy pets to sick kids.

Hospital advisor Erin Oliveira explained, "[CMN is] a network of 170 different hospitals in the United States and Canada that work with our amazing local corporate partners and programs like Dance Marathon."

Students kept moving with sports and dancing all day long. After COVID-19 made things harder, the event is starting to feel normal again.

Tyler Inscoe runs Ninerthon now. He said, "COVID-19 made it impossible to hold events like this, so it kind of fell behind the scenes."

They wanted to raise $49,000: a nod to the school's 49ers mascot. Students sold baked goods and ran carnival games to get donations.

Many student groups help out, from Zeta Beta Tau to Women's Lacrosse and Coloring for Chemo. Penn State's THON showed them how to run big charity events.

Oliveira added, "All funds are completely unrestricted. It doesn't matter if you're in the cancer department, child life, heart, vascular, or any of the different specialties at our hospitals."

When they buy medical tools with the money, they put CMN stickers on them. This shows students exactly how their work helps sick kids get better.