UDance 2012!

This blog is long overdue, but I've been so swamped with exams lately, and I do NOT let myself blog when there is school work to be done! Luckily I got a 106% on my COMM200 exam (oh yeahhh) and I haven't received my Spanish Literature grade, but I felt extremely confident when I walked out of that test. I love both of these classes and they are my favorite professors so I genuinely enjoy studying for them. Anyway, Sunday was a big day for the University of Delaware, as we held our annual UDance fundraiser for the B+ Organization. 

For those of you who don't know what B+ is, it was started by a Delaware family, the McDonoughs, after they lost their 14-year old son, Andrew, to leukemia. I am always amazed by people who can take an experience that could truly have destroyed ever fiber of their moral beings, and turn it into something positive that changes millions of lives, and B+ has done exactly that. They raise funds for families dealing with pediatric cancer, and have helped in countless ways to save lives, and raise spirits. 

When Joe McDonough, Andrew's father, came to speak to my sorority last year, I was touched by the message he shared, and I knew I wanted to be a part of this fundraiser. Unfortunately, last year I was unable to be there for the full 12 hours due to prior greek life commitments, but this year I cleared my schedule in advance to be a part of the fun. I signed on to be a moraler, and be there for the full 12 hours. I arrived at the Bob Carpenter Center at 10:30 in the morning, well rested, early, and ready to dance! For being a moraler, I got an AWESOME UDance t-shirt, and free food vouchers, and free drinks. It's a good thing, because I drank at least 12 bottles of water to keep replenishing what I was losing while dancing! I had so much fun spending time with my sorority, especially the new girls whom I haven't had much time with, as well as friends from other greek chapters, and from different organizations on campus. I can't say that I was on my best Miss Delaware behavior as far as my diet goes, there aren't many healthy options at UDance, but I sure burned it off dancing all day. There were free zumba classes offered to us throughout the day and I made sure I was there for all of them! 12 hours is a long time to keep dancing, so it's a good thing I've been dancing since I could walk.

It's nice to have sisters to lean on after a long day.

 By 11:00pm we were ready to know how much money we had raised for UDance and the B+ Organization. In the past 4 years, UDance has raised a total of about $450,000. Last year we hit $260,000 which was a huge accomplishment. We wanted to top that this year so we went into fundraising overdrive. This year alone we raised...drumroll please...

$455,982.16 FOR OUR HEROES!!!!!!!!!

Each group that participates in UDance is given a "hero" that they hang out with throughout the year. A hero is a child who is either battling, or who has survived cancer, and who serves as inspiration for us. Alpha Xi Delta has an amazing hero named Molly, who is in remission and is cancer free! We love spending time with Molly, and we have various events with her. This year we took her to Kappa Sigma Fraternity's annual haunted house in October, we had an ice cream social with her, and many other fun events. Spending time with our heroes makes us even more motivated to help out with UDance, and having a hero like Molly makes the whole experience that much better.

Even though I was just a small part of UDance's success, (a very very small, tiny, miniscule, part), I am so proud of what we accomplished. The students that organize, plan, and run this event are truly amazing, and I can't believe the impact a group of young 18-22 year olds can have on the lives of so many children with forms pediatric cancer and their families. To check out more about UDance and see how you can become involved, check out udancedelaware.org. To learn more about the McDonoughs and their organization, visit the B+ website at bepositive.org

XOXOXO,
Alyssa