Nashville’s El Jefe 96.7 and 105.3 FM  Radiothon “Regalando Amor” (Giving Love) is coming Feb. 14 & 15. This year El Jefe has decided to hold their radiothon right on Valentine’s day, which for the Hispanic community is the day to celebrate Friendship and Love. This year will be  the first time we will be broadcasting from the Seacrest studios at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. During this special event we will also be joined by international singer and actress Jaci Velasquez for a special meet and greet for the kids on Friday Feb 15th. The broadcast will take place from 6am to 7 pm both days. During these times El Jefe personalities will invite their listeners to become Miracle Makers for the kids with a $20 monthly donation. They will also be interviewing patients families and medical personnel, all to raise much needed funds for  the kids at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

International Singing Star and Actress Jaci Velaquez

This post was submitted by Melissa Hayden (Bruebach) for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals through childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org/guest-post. 

Your wedding day: the day you (probably) have at least thought about at some point in your life, and the day most people dream about. In November 2017, my boyfriend proposed, and we were thrilled to be able to start planning that day that I had been dreaming about! Just a week before that, I had participated in my 5^th Dance Marathon, and spoke for the 4^th time as a “Miracle Child” to share my story. As usual, I left the event feeling inspired, grateful, and full of energy (with very sore feet too, of course). There is absolutely nothing like a Miracle Day event; hearing stories of courage and triumph, dancing with hundreds of others in the room, and celebrating the organization’s amazing ability to raise funds for their Children’s Miracle Network hospital never ceases to amaze me. I am truly a “Dance Marathon addict”, I love everything about the organization, and I have personally seen how much of an impact it has on hospitals and their patients.

Why am I so passionate about Dance Marathon? I have been, and continue to be, fighting for my life for my entire life. I was born two months early at only ~3 pounds, and have had close 30 surgeries/procedures including ~12 brain surgeries, 3 spinal fusions, and shoulder surgery. I have a genetic condition, called FKBP14 related Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and when I was diagnosed I was the 10^th in the world to have it. I also have hydrocephalus, scoliosis, and CRPS, all of which impact my daily life. For Hydrocephalus, the only treatment is brain surgery, and so I have had to always be prepared for an emergency brain surgery, of which I have had 10 so far. Growing up, I missed many birthdays, holidays, and milestones while I was in and out of the hospital. While this was hard and sad in some ways, the hospital was able to make it as fun as possible, because of money raised from organizations like Dance Marathon. They decorated, Santa came, I was gifted a book for my birthday, they truly do everything they can to make a kid feel like a kid again while they’re going through some of the scariest times in their lives. 2012 was a particularly hard year for me, as I had four brain surgeries in four months, and I missed my junior year of college in order to recover. I developed blood clots and had to give myself shots twice a day for over 8 months, and I had gotten so sick my family was told to say their goodbyes. It took me months to gain my stamina back, and almost a year to fully recover. If it weren’t for organizations like Dance Marathon, the hospital might not have had pull out couches in every room. This allowed my parents to be near me at all times, and gave them the option to sleep in my room. Without Dance Marathon, the hospital might not have had money for research, which allows the doctors to study new ways to treat their patients, and I might not have been here today to share this story. All of these experiences gave me a unique perspective when I first started participating in Dance Marathon at St Norbert College, I knew just how much these families needed us, because most of my life, I have been “that family”. I knew just how much of an impact we were having, and that made me want to work that much harder when I was involved.

By now, you’ve figured out just how crazy of a Dance Marathon enthusiast I am, and now here comes the part that still BLOWS MY MIND. While planning our special day we had originally settled on a date in September 2019, but as we planned other parts of the wedding, we realized we wanted to do it sooner than later. As we had already booked a few vendors when we decided to do a date change, we had to coordinate with all of them as to what dates were left available in 2018. It turned out only one date was going to work: November 10, 2018. We agreed to the date, and got back to work planning our wedding that now was almost a whole year sooner! Now comes the crazy part. I still get goosebumps when I think back to when I first found out that St Norbert College’s Miracle Day was on our wedding day! It truly was meant to be. Immediately, I realized we HAD to make Dance Marathon a part of our day, especially because we were already going to be on campus for some of our wedding pictures. We got ready that morning, eager with anticipation for both the wedding and Dance Marathon! After we did our “first look” pictures, Matt and I bee-lined for the Campus Center where Miracle Day was being held. I cannot explain how amazing it was to be able to stop in, if only for a few minutes (we arrived at the chapel with about 20 minutes to spare before the ceremony, whoops, clearly we’ve got our priorities straight). I got to give two of my buddies, other Miracle Children, the biggest hugs which was so special! One of the “Miracle Kids” was Joey Rubin- when we both were SNCDM members he and I found out, in this crazy small world, that we both had the same neurosurgeon in Chicago! He has been incredibly strong as he battled Epilepsy, and we both received treatment at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. We danced it out for a few minutes with the dancers, and then took a group picture with all of the SNCDM members, Miracle Families, and the Dancers (one of my most favorite wedding pictures!), and then we left with full hearts to go get married! We highly recommend crashing a Dance Marathon before you go get married- it was one of the most special parts of our day! It really came full circle for me when we were standing in the group surrounded by hundreds of dancers. Growing up I was one of the “Miracle Kids”, then I became a Dance Marathon member, and then I got to celebrate our wedding with SNCDM. I looked around and realized we were celebrating the wedding that might not have been possible had I not received the very best medical care at a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, and I looked at some of the other Miracle Kids; I knew that someday they might be getting married too, and my heart was SO full knowing that they had this chance because of their Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, and the dancers in the room. It was one of those moments that just fill you up to the brim with joy.

We want to thank St Norbert College Dance Marathon for allowing us to “crash” their day and interrupt their activities. Never stop dancing; you’re dancing for more birthdays, more graduations, and more wedding days! Forever For the Kids, The Hayden’s

During the week of August 13-19, three Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals media partners collectively raised over $1.95 million for their local hospitals through live radiothon events.

KTAR and Arizona Sports Give-A-Thon Breaks Fundraising Record (Phoenix):

Congratulations to Bonneville’s KTAR and Arizona Sports (KMVP) for breaking another fundraising record – their 19-hour Give-A-Thon simulcast raised $1,728,142 to benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital! This total surpassed their previous years’ total of $1.67 million and, once again, makes them the highest fundraising media event in the nation through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

https://www.facebook.com/KTARNews/videos/276963189569403/

The Give-A-Thon aired from 2:00-7:00pm on Wednesday, August 15 and from 5:00am-7:00pm on Thursday, August 16. The event was a collaborative effort between KTAR News 92.3 FM and 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station and, since 2009, has raised over $12.8 million for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The two stations set aside programming time to feature stories from patient families who have been treated at the hospital.

https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofPCH/videos/505264106564993/?t=23

Listeners could call in to donate or make their donation online. Anyone who made a monthly pledge of $20 or more, or a single gift of $240 or more, became a “Champion of Hope.” In addition to their donation helping to provide life-saving medical care at the hospital,  a teddy bear was also given to a patient in the donors’ names.

The stations also shared Behind the Scenes video tours and interviews to show how donations are making an impact at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, including the Child Life Zone, the Emily Center Family Health Library, and the Emergency Department.

Mix 93.1 Hosts 20th Annual Mix with Kids Radiothon (Tyler, Texas): 

https://www.facebook.com/MiracleRun5k/photos/a.636135129756963/1781355348568263/?type=3&theater

Mix 93.1 in Tyler, Texas hosted the 20th annual “Mix with Kids Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon” and raised $51,439 for the CMN Hospitals programs and pediatric services at Christus Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics throughout East Texas. Hosts Lucky Larry and Mandee Montana invited Miracle kids from the hospital along with their families, doctors, nurses, and hospital support staff on air to share their stories as East Texans called in their donations and pledges in near record numbers to bring premiere care and equipment to East Texas. Funds raised will help support the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the special needs clinic, children’s center, mother unit, ambulance services, emergency room services, clinics and more.

https://www.facebook.com/mix931fm/videos/245125659670801/?t=202

KHAK Hosts 22nd Annual Radiothon (Cedar Rapids, IA):

The 22nd annual KHAK radiothon to benefit the CMN Hospitals programs at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital ended with another outstanding total of $133,541! KHAK’S Brain and Courtlin broadcast live from the 12th floor of the hospital, from the same area where all of the kids being treated wave to Hawkeye fans during football Saturdays.

Photo: 98.1 KHAK

One of the many highlights of their event was the celebration of an 18 year old KHAK fan’s end of chemo treatment party during the radiothon.  Brain and Courtlin celebrated on-air with listener Danielle ringing the bell to signify the end of her chemotherapy treatments. They then challenged listeners to call in and donate $75, which would cover the cost of an end-of-chemo party for a patient at the hospital. Watch Danielle’s party in the video from KHAK below.

https://www.facebook.com/981KHAK/videos/2128408750814622/

This uplifting moment and many others drove listeners to donate nearly $14,000 more than 2017. Funds raised stay right in Iowa City at the hospital to fund research, programs and equipment at UI Stead Family Children’s that are not covered by insurance.

Throughout their event, 98.1 KHAK shared live videos on their Facebook page, reaching nearly 40,000 views, sharing updates from the event and video interviews with patient families as they were also being shared live on air.

https://www.facebook.com/981KHAK/videos/244147939569258/

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $5 billion, most of it $1 at a time through the charity’s Miracle Balloon icon. Its various fundraising partners and programs support the nonprofit’s mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. Find out why children’s hospitals need community support, and learn about your member hospital, at CMNHospitals.org and facebook.com/CMNHospitals.

Entravision Communications continuously looks for ways to support and give back to their local communities and on August 2^nd through the 4^th it will be hosting its 11^th annual Nationwide Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Hispanic Radiothon. The event is carried on all of its 34 Entravision Owned and Operated radio stations plus syndicated stations for programs Erazno y la Chokolata, Alex el Genio Lucas, and El Show de Piolin in the top 50 US Hispanic markets and supported by its Entravisions Noticias Ya network encompassing local TV news and www.noticiasya.com. The broadcast will be in both Spanish and English in several markets. Last year’s radiothon raised over 3.2 million dollars for local children’s hospitals in over 110 markets, and this year we hope to surpass that total. You can also support by visiting the EVC dedicated Website: http://www.unmillonparalosninos.com

11th Annual Entravision CMNH Raditohnon

Seattle, WA – Seattle Area Credit Unions hosted a ‘Credit Unions For Kids (CU4Kids) Day’ at a Seattle Mariners game on July 22, 2018. This wasn’t your typical day at the ballpark, Peninsula CU CEO and Seattle CU4Kids Advisory Group Chair, Jim Morrell, organized other credit unions and community members to rally together and raise funds for Seattle Children’s Hospital. The funds raised are directed towards supporting uncompensated care, which is the portion of the steep medical bills not covered by insurance. This makes sure every child has the opportunity to get the full treatment they need.

For every ticket sold by the group, $5 went to Seattle Children’s. They also hosted a silent auction at the game, which was staffed by volunteers from the Greater Seattle Area Young CU Professionals group. Finally, CO-OP Financial Services also matched every dollar raised!

Before the game, the group had the very special opportunity to share a GIANT check of the total funds raised on the field (pictures below). The check for $342,595 represents the total funds raised for Seattle Children’s Hospital by CU4Kids in 2017. Those funds were raised through golf tournaments, credit union campaigns, and the NWCUA’s annual CU4Kids Auction held during MAXX.

Total funds raised at Sunday’s game will be just under $9,000!

The Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, in conjunction with Charity Dynamics, has released their annual Peer-to Peer-Fundraising 30, which ranks the 30 largest peer-to-peer fundraising programs in the United States. Collectively, the top thirty campaigns raised $1.45 billion in 2017 for a variety of non-profit organizations. Miracle Network Dance Marathon made the list as the 14th highest fundraising program in the nation and was recognized during a main stage presentation at the P2P Professional Forum. While a majority of the programs on the list saw a decrease in fundraising last year, Miracle Network Dance Marathon received a special shout out as the fastest growing peer-to-peer program in 2017, increasing fundraising by 19.6% to nearly $39 million.

Anyone who has experienced Miracle Network Dance Marathon is never shocked to hear about how this program defies non-profit trends year after year. The  hundreds of thousands of students across the nation who raise millions of dollars for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals know what it feels like to be a part of this powerful movement that has spread to over 300 college and university campuses and over 100 K-12 schools throughout North America.

Students participating in the University of Iowa Dance Marathon, which raised over $3 million in 2018.

Peer-to-Peer fundraising programs across the nation continue to anticipate anywhere from 1 – 5% monetary growth, with a 5% increase in fundraising being considered an outstanding year. And yet, Miracle Network Dance Marathon programs increase their fundraising at an average of 15-25% year-over-year.

Each individual school’s Dance Marathon organization is led by a leadership team, comprised entirely of students who coordinate everything from recruitment of participants, planning fundraising campaigns, acquiring corporate partnerships, implementing events, and connecting students to their local children’s hospital. These leaders, who are also students with social lives, jobs, and rigorous academic commitments, cultivate an autonomous and authentic movement on their campuses. They generate and inspire passion, making a difference by showing their peers how their fundraising is tangibly making a difference for the pediatric patients treated in their local community.

IUPUI students participate in Jagathon to raise money and awareness for Riley Hospital for Children in March 2018.

Even more impressive: the students serving in leadership positions turnover every year – meaning that new students are often stepping in to run the organizations who previously haven’t held that leadership position. But through their involvement in Dance Marathon, students learn skills such as peer management, delegation, conflict resolution, strategic planning and public speaking that they can practically apply throughout their collegiate and professional careers.

Each individual Dance Marathon organization works to increase their fundraising through various means. The large majority of fundraising comes from students engaging in peer-to-peer fundraising, where they set up a fundraising website and ask their friends and family to make donations, with most donations being $20 or less. Students set personal fundraising goals and many programs provide incentives for students who reach specific milestones, including inducting students who raise over $1,000 into the “Comma Club,” recognizing the comma they’ve added to their individual fundraising total. In addition to their peer-to-peer efforts, Dance Marathon organizations will often host a variety of fundraising events throughout the year that engage students and community members.

Dance Marathons also seek support from corporate partnerships with local businesses who make either monetary or in-kind donations to help the students cut down the costs of their programming, therefore increasing the donation they’re able to make to their local hospital. On a national level, Miracle Network Dance Marathon has partnerships with Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Panda Express, Delta Air Lines, and Aflac, each of which are partners of CMN Hospitals. These partners select a certain number of collegiate programs to support with monetary donations that are used to cover operating expenses that will help the programs market themselves, implement their events, and increase fundraising.

Most peer-to-peer fundraising programs see approximately 75% of their fundraising coming from peer-to-peer fundraising and 25% coming from corporate partnerships. For Dance Marathon organizations, the split is typically 90/10 percent – with 90% of their fundraising efforts being accomplished through peer to peer giving, and 10 percent through corporate and community partnerships and special events.

Dance Marathon organizations also supersede recruitment and retention trends. Recent peer to peer studies show that recruitment is down nationwide for major philanthropic events. Yet, Dance Marathon organizations’ participation and retention rates grow considerably each year, cultivating a fiercely loyal pipeline of dedicated supporters.

Miracle children greeted by Dance Marathon at the University of Florida participants.

The leaders of each Dance Marathon organization generate this kind of support by demonstrating and driving the importance of local impact. The funds raised by each Miracle Network Dance Marathon organization go directly to their local CMN Hospital. These children’s hospitals truly need the donations to best serve all patients. With 170 local CMN Hospitals throughout North America treating over 10 million children each year, these donations are helping to save the lives of kids in the same communities as each collegiate or K-12 Dance Marathon.

Numerous Dance Marathon organizations have been able to see their funds in action. The University of Iowa Dance Marathon recently announced funds raised in their 24th annual Dance Marathon event will go towards a brand new, state of the art 3T MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine – a bill that would cost the their local CMN Hospital, University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, over $650,000. In return for their donation, the waiting room will be named “University of Iowa Dance Marathon Waiting Room.”

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta recently named its comprehensive inpatient rehabilitative unit gym the “UGA Miracle Gym,” after University of Georgia’s Dance Marathon, known as UGA Miracle, surpassed the $1M mark in their annual fundraising for the first time in 2016. Aside from the improved equipment and spaces that their fundraising has helped provide, UGA Miracle impacts future generations of doctors as their fundraising also supports CHOA’s Physiatry Fellowship, a training program for rehabilitation physicians.

Gonzaga University Dance Marathon’s fundraising helped provide life critical equipment for Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, including a children’s vein finder for IV starts ($27,649), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) developmental position of premature infants ($2,090), a 3D heart of an infant patient for training ($1,625), children’s hospitals security equipment ($11,060) and NICU aspiration prevention equipment ($540).

Dance Marathon organizations build loyal supporters by tapping into the Gen Z and Millennial desire to make a difference in their communities through action. These organizations activate their following by empowering each individual to realize the difference they can make in their community, not only giving them an outlet to do so, but also communicating the impact of that difference back to them. This humanizes the issue, even if a supporter has never been directly impacted by a local children’s hospital.

These young people aren’t just hosting philanthropic events on their campuses – they’re harnessing a movement. They are this generation, fighting for the next.

A student with a Miracle Child at Aggie Miracle at Texas A&M University.

Miracle Network Dance Marathon is an international movement, involving over 400 colleges, universities, and K-12 schools across North America that fundraise for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since its inception in 1991, Miracle Network Dance Marathon has raised more than $220 million–ensuring that no child or family fights pediatric illness or injury alone.

Learn more about Miracle Network Dance Marathon:

Facebook – Instagram – Website – Blog – YouTube

2017 was a very special year for Miracle Network Dance Marathon programs in the state of Minnesota! Incredible student leaders were developed, lives changed for families treated at Gillette Speciality Healthcare, more funds and awareness being raised, additional college’s joining the network, and much more.

The longest running program in the state, Minnesota State University at Mankato, continued to set new fundraising and recruitment records for their school and in the state. Student leaders at this school started with challenging goals and learned to work hard to reach them. They ended up fundraising over $26,000 for their local children’s hospital and had 211 involved students. After transitioning their leadership team to plan for their 2018 event, they continue to do amazing work.

2017 brought a few, exciting new additions. One of them being University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities! For three years, students on campus held an event very similar to Dance Marathon but for their 2017 event, they decided to officially partner with CMN Hospitals to raise money for Gillette. In the first year, they raised over $18,000 and had over 200 participants; which is exceptional! Three fantastic student leaders (Emily, Marissa, and Kallie) have taken the leadership reigns for the 2018 event and are doing terrific things to grow the program. With a focus on community engagement, partnering with Greek Life and other student organizations, plus creating a Dance Marathon culture on campus, they are certainly setting Minnesota Dance Marathon (MDM) up for future success.

University of Minnesota, Duluth hosted their second annual Dance Marathon event on campus. The students were so thrilled to reveal a total of $4,077 that they raised for Gillette Speciality Children’s Healthcare. Bethany Ill deserves endless credit for the time she put in to making this opportunity available for her peers at UMD. By hosting bake sales, ‘tabling’ across campus, partnering with other student organizations, and more is what led to their success.

St. Olaf University is another school that hosted their first ever Dance Marathon in 2017! Callahan is a student leader that- as a first-year- decided she wanted to make a difference in her community. After spending significant time recruiting and training a leadership team, they started to plan their first event. It took place in April 2017 and was a wild success. They ended up revealing $8,025 and had almost 100 students on campus participating.

The final Miracle Network Dance Marathon Big Event that took place in 2017 was at Macalester University in Saint Paul. Like St. Olaf, this was their first ever Dance Marathon. Madison is the student leader that brought her Dance Marathon experience from attending High School in Iowa to her new college. After doing a tremendous job at marketing this new program on campus to other students, they were ready to ‘dance’ the day away at their Big Event in the Spring Semester. Through the hard work these students put in, they were able to raise $9,194 in their first year!

Finally, Hamline University has now begun to plan an event for their campus!

There is much to be proud of from Minnesota Dance Marathon programs in 2017 and certainly much excitement for 2018!

If you are interested in bringing Dance Marathon to your College/University, please reach out to Nick Coleman (Dance Marathon Manager for CMNHospital) at ncoleman@cmnhospitals.org.