Some groups and individuals raised a couple hundred or thousand dollars, but others managed to raise over $50,000.
After all of this came the actual Dance Marathon.
From April 5th to 6th, thousands of Rutgers students flooded into the RAC on Livingston to dance for hours on end. All of it "For The Kids."
Since 2000, the Rutgers University Dance Marathon (RUDM) has been partnered with Embrace Kids Foundation.
According to their website, “Embrace Kids Foundation exists to lighten the burden, maintain normalcy and improve the quality of life for families whose children are facing cancer, sickle cell and other serious health challenges” by addressing the “spiritual, emotional and financial needs of patient families in the New Jersey/New York City metropolitan area.”
At the end of the 24 hours, dancers, donors, and other fundraisers had collected $1,120,205.48. This is the most money RUDM has ever raised.
Most dancers fundraise in groups. Here are the ten fraternities and sororities that raised the most money for RUDM.
10. Sigma Delta Tau -- $26,066
9. Phi Mu -- $27,476
8. Delta Sigma Pi -- $28,550
7. Zeta Tau Alpha -- $32,594
6. Omega Phi Alpha -- $33,900
5. Delta Gamma -- $43,468
The Epsilon Psi chapter at Rutgers is one of five greek life organizations to raise over $40,000. The all-female fraternity danced alongside a young girl named Scarlett who was born with Cooley’s Anemia.
Out of 126 sisters, the one who raised the most money individually is Alannah McCourt with $4,000.
The group is known for being one of the most charitable fraternities at Rutgers.
Sophomore Jess Gutierrez says that she is not surprised that Delta Gamma performed so well financially.
“I rushed their sorority and immediately knew they were all such kind, genuine, generous girls the second I met them. I know they’re the type to work hard for this kind of charity.”
4. Gamma Phi Beta -- $44,350
4-year-old Londy led the team as their youngest honorary sister.
Gamma Phi Beta sister Nicole Woodstock raised a whopping $8,050 on her own. While the group’s goal was to hit the $50,000 mark, they are still incredibly proud of their achievement.
The Gamma Phi Beta Instagram page posted “Dance Marathon is so important to us and an event we look forward to every year.” The post also mentioned that this is their biggest donation to RUDM in history.
3. Alpha Phi Omega -- $50,833
National coeducational service organization Alpha Phi Omega proudly raised over $50,000 as a group.
The principles of the Delta Rho chapter leadership, friendship, and service.
Junior Michael Trost says that, as a friend of one of the fraternity members, the group’s determination is what helped them reach their goal.
“They are all such kind people who genuinely want to do good for others. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t have raised over $50,000.”
2. Chi Psi -- $64,955
With the top member donation being an extremely high $16,731 from Daniel De Almeida, the Chi Psi Fraternity raised just a thousand dollars less than the top team.
Sophomore Aliyah Ryan said RUDM puts fraternities and sororities in a new light for her. Living in Tinsley, Ryan could always see the Chi Psi house from her room.
“It’s crazy how you see these houses every day and see them partying every weekend and you think to yourself, ‘oh, they’re just another dumb group of frat bros’,” she said.
“But then you find out that those ‘dumb frat bros’ raised enough money for charity to get like two Jeeps, and you realize they might actually be really good people.”
Ryan also said that events like RUDM are really important because it encourages people to work in groups so they can make the biggest difference. She believes that the healthy competition of raising the money for an “amazing and important” cause pushes each member and group to do as much as they can.
1. Phi Sigma Sigma -- $65,628
Although their goal was $80,000, Phi Sigma Sigma still managed to raise the most money of all the school organizations at RUDM.
Sophomore Sabrina Caruso, who danced at the marathon with the Rutgers Orientation Leaders, said that she felt “honored” to be there.
“It was so surreal to hear that the dance marathon had raised the most it has in history, and to be a part of the group that made that happen is really cool.”
Caruso also said that she couldn’t believe one sorority was able to raise over $65,000 on their own.
“That’s absolutely insane,” she said when she was told the group’s total.
“I remember seeing all of those girls dancing for hours like it wasn’t even phasing them. The fact that they worked hard to raise that much and loved every moment of it is something all Greek life should aspire to do.”
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