Final Stretch

Good morning Gators,

The time is upon us. Dance Marathon is just eight days away. That’s like…24 meals and three trips to the dog park. More importantly, we’re all so close to seeing what a year’s worth of work can do to further support Shands Hospital for Children at UF. Now that’s a cause I can sink my baby teeth into!

Be sure to come visit me today at the DM Kickoff at Hume Field at 5:00 p.m. sharp. I’ll be in one of the corners trying to bribe one of the Hospitality Captains for some extra food from Texas Roadhouse.

Today’s tip for fundraising is simple…send out e-mails!! I know that for a lot of you that’s a given, but some of us might initially be uncomfortable with the idea of e-mailing friends and family for money. Heck, my mom barely even knows how to turn on a computer let alone open her e-mail account. With that said, the people that care about you always want to support you and it’s at least worth asking. At the very worst someone will say no, but at least now you’ve drawn their attention to a great cause. Plus, it might just be five or ten minutes to you, but the money you help raise means so much more to the children in the hospital.

Thank you so much for all of the work that you guys have put in this year. Dance Marathon couldn’t be the event it is today without all of your help. Now get excited to dance Gators!!

FTK,

Pebbles

Use Your Talents FTK

What’s up, Gators?


Pebbles here again. Can you believe that Dance Marathon is almost 2 weeks away? I certainly can’t. But that means that it’s for the final push, and we’ve got more fundraising ideas to help you go above and beyond for the kids!

It takes a lot to become a Gator. And we know grades go far, but you wouldn’t be a member of the Gator Nation if you didn’t have some special hidden talents. Whether you can touch your tongue to your nose (I can, but it’s kind of different for us dogs!) or serenade your sweetheart, showing off your talents for a Dance Marathon donation can help give your friends the incentive to give and you the ability to show off your talents to the world!

So string up that guitar, put on that crazy costume, or hit Southwest Rec for some crazy basketball trick shots. Whatever you do well, do it well for the kids! We can do it, Gators!

FTK,

Pebbles

Dates for Donations

Hey Gators,

I’m sure you’ve all heard about Dance Marathon’s new fundraising challenge! It is called the Zero 0’s campaign and it challenges all of you to raise at least $25. We want to have zero participants with $0 in their fundraising account, and I have faith that we can do this if we all try hard!

Over the past month and a half, I’ve given you plenty of ideas for fundraising for yourself, but this one is about giving! Ask your friends to donate to your page in exchange for a date on you. Whether it’s grabbing ice cream, frozen yogurt, or even a burrito, I’m sure your friends would be willing to give back to the kids in exchange for a date with you!  It is time to get creative! You could also offer to bake treats for donations! Mhmm, I love treats.

I know if everyone tries really hard then we can reach this goal together! I’ll see you guys next Friday, but until then keep on fundraising! Let’s have Zero 0’s for DM 2013.

FTK,

Pebbles

Spring Cleaning For the Kids!

Hey Gators,

I hope that everyone had a fun, safe spring break. My spring break was mostly fun, I got to travel and play with my puppy friends. But then it ended with my first trip to the groomer, now that was a battle! It doesn’t matter how nicely you speak to me, you become my enemy when you start cutting hair off of my face.

At the very least though, the groomer reminds me of this week’s fundraising tip: Spring Cleaning. If I can shed some of my unwanted fur, I know that you guys can come together and get rid of some of your unnecessary belongings. Garage sales are a great way to make some extra cash that can go a long way towards helping Shands Hospital for Children at UF with its newest renovations. Furthermore, selling old clothes is a great way to make money and create some extra room in your closet. I know that I feel a whole lot lighter now with my hair cut!

Dance Marathon is less than a month away Gators, so its crunch time!! Get excited for some of the activities we have coming up, like Pinner’s and Sweet Dreams on March 20^th! Also, keep sending those e-mails and make that last, strong fundraising push!

I’ll see you guys next Friday with some more fundraising tips!

FTK,

 Pebbles

Family FUN-Raising

Hey Gators!

So how ‘bout that FT5K last weekend? There’s nothing I love more than running around with my friends on a Sunday morning to raise awareness and money for the kids over at Shands. It was so exciting to have a puppy-friendly event and I made so many friends! I can only hope I’ll see them again at Dance Marathon!

You all probably know that this week is Rivalry Week. All those pups parading around Tallahassee in their garnet and gold are trying to fundraise $50,000 before we can! Someone should probably tell them that even though they’re ahead in the game right now, it won’t be long before we take the lead. I know it sounds like I’m being overly confident, but how can I not be when I share fundraising secrets with you every Friday?

Today’s Lesson “Family FUN-raising.”

I’m sure you’ve all spent a good amount of time trying to explain Dance Marathon to your family members and telling them how much it means to you. 26.2 hours is a long time to be awake during the event, not to mention the hours spent in preparation for DM and during closing ceremonies. To foster some fun family competition, challenge a family member (or all of them) to take part in our Family FUN-raising competition!

Ask a family member if they would consider donating a certain amount of money for every hour that you’re awake during Dance Marathon weekend. For those who agree to $1 an hour, you’re looking at a minimum of $35. Perhaps you could convince another to donate $2, in which case you’d see your total increase by $70… And those of you who are REALLY persuasive may be able to get $10 an hour, adding $350 worth of donations to Dance Marathon! I love good, healthy family competition almost as much as I love chewing up a tennis ball at the dog park, and paired with an incentive like DM, I can’t think of anything better. Except for maybe a milk bone from the pet store.

Best of luck everyone! Be sure to check back next Friday for another tip!

FTK,

Pebbles

The 10% Rule

Hi Gators,

It’s Pebbles again. I don’t know about you guys, but I have had the longest week. I had my usual post-dinner nap interrupted for a quick trip to Tropical Smoothie. I made a lot of friends in line and the Blimey Limey smoothie was delicious! 

I’ve been hearing an awful lot about this FT5K coming up on Sunday. I’m no greyhound, but I think I can manage 3.1 miles if it’s for the kids. I hope a lot of you guys registered too, because if my little puppy legs can manage this distance, then you guys have nothing to complain about.

Today’s lesson: “The 10% Rule”

I’m sure a lot of you have jobs here in Gainesville that give out some nice, juicy paychecks. I know that anytime I fall into some money, I try to take out 10% of it to donate to Dance Marathon. After all, I do have quite a bit of spending money left over after I pay for my clean blankets and jerky bits.               

Thank you for all of your support and I can’t wait to make some more friends at the FT5K! Keep up the good work Gators!

Pennies for Pups

Hi Gators,

My name is Pebbles. I’m a frisky, playful puppy who is only a few weeks old. I was just adopted by my dad, Josh, two weeks ago when I moved to Gainesville, and it is such a fun place! I love going to the dog park with my Lilly Pulitzer leash, hanging out at restaurants and spending all my free time learning about Dance Marathon.

I hear that Dance Marathon is a 26.2 hour event that spends an entire year raising money for Children’s Miracle Network at Shands Hospital for Children. What a great cause! I know that when my puppy friends are sick they really appreciate any human help, so I’m sure the babies feel that way too. The PR captains asked me to talk to the student body every Friday to help you all think of fun new ways to fundraise, so be sure to check back every week as I begin my column of “Pebbles Says” on Fundraising Friday!

Throughout the next eight weeks, I’ll give you eight awesome tips on how to step up your fundraising. 

Today’s lesson: “Pennies for Pups.”

A lot of people in the Gainesville area are looking for dog sitters when they go out of town, or for a little extra help when they are at work during the day. Reach out to friends or families with dogs in the Gainesville area and offer to dog sit for them. Pet owners are usually willing to pay pretty well, so take their money and put it towards your DM total. Because let’s be real—you’d spend a day playing with puppies for free.

All this fundraising can win you a free iPad Mini! Be sure to ask your friends if they need dog sitting before Monday when the giveaway ends!  Keep up the good work Gators! 

 FTK,

Pebbles

Life Changing Weekend

Written by: Christie Workman

        My name is Christie Workman and I’m a second year Community Events Captain. Here’s my story about how I became involved with DM and why it’s super amazing:

        I first fell in love with non-profit organizations when I planned a community-wide fundraising event in high school. After spending the whole year planning the event, I realized that what I was doing wasn’t work for me- I actually enjoyed it! Once the event was over, I realized that working with non-profit organizations was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I learned about DM because I saw pictures of the event on Facebook from some of my older friends that went to UF. So, my freshman year, I knew that Dance Marathon was something I definitely wanted to be involved in.

        I knew that I wanted to participate as a dancer in Dance Marathon, but when I heard about Captains, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. I was so ecstatic when I learned that I was a Community Events Captain!!! Since I was a freshman, it was a little difficult to give my input and ideas about the community events because I had never attended them before. But, my team was amazing and they gave me the best introduction to DM I could have ever asked for.  I was even more honored and blessed to be able to dance AND be a captain; it was truly a once in a lifetime experience!

        Out of all the amazing community events throughout the year, my favorite is definitely DM Bowling. I think it’s awesome for everyone to dress up in crazy outfits and bowl for such a great cause. Plus, who doesn’t love to bowl?! DM Bowling is so fun because it’s the first event of the year, and everyone is super pumped and excited to begin raising money for the kids. I can’t wait for this year because I will actually know the line dance from the previous year so I can join Morale when they do it! (I was always so jealous last year when everyone did the line dance because I didn’t know it!)

         As soon as I joined Community Events, I knew that Dance Marathon would be one of the biggest parts of my college career. My favorite part of Dance Marathon 2012 was listening to the Miracle Stories. It’s amazing because these emotional stories show everyone exactly where the money goes, and how it helps children so close to home. I pretty much cried for half of the 26.2 hours. Let’s just say I was bawling so hard at the reveal of the total that when they told the dancers we could sit down, I remained standing with my CE team! I never wanted that weekend to end. My emotional weekend made me realize how much I love Children’s Miracle Network and Dance Marathon. DM has truly become the one thing I am passionate about and I can’t imagine my life without it. I will ALWAYS be involved with Dance Marathon, even after I graduate! I encourage everyone I meet to get involved with DM, and if you haven’t already, please do! Not only will it save so many children’s lives, it will change yours forever.

#FTK #FTK #FTK

My Dance Marathon Journey

Written by: Samantha Capone

     Every day, I spend hours working on Dance Marathon.  There is so much work that goes into making sure our dancers are registered, our community events run flawlessly, our families are taken care of, and our fundraising efforts are successful.   I often get asked the question, “Why?”  Why do I devote a large portion of my life to benefitting the lives of others?   Why do I love the kids?  I have to admit, the first time I was asked this question I had to sit down and think about my answer.  I’ve never had a personal experience with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and I don’t have any friends or family who have been personally affected by the cause.  I started my journey just like many of you will, as a dancer. 

     In 2009, I signed up to be a Dance Marathon Dancer because I was told that it was the thing to do as a freshman. I had absolutely no idea what I had gotten myself into.  It wasn’t until I hung out with my organization’s Miracle Children, the Bright triplets, and heard their story that I understood what we were doing. We attend events to raise awareness, we raise money to help find cures, but we dance to show these kids that we care. They have been through so much in their lives that they need time to be kids, to make memories, and to just hangout with people who won’t ask what’s wrong or judge them for their illness. We dance to help these kids make memories. Colin Northrup from the Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan really sums up what it’s like for the kids, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDH1AFYwaM. In Colin’s words, “What it’s like at the marathon is like this. You get to see some of your friends, you get to witness cool entertainment, line dances…it’s adrenaline pumping at the marathon. In closing, stick with the Dance Marathon. Kids, they need freedom. They need treatment. They need relief. And your money will provide them with that and the ability to do activities and programs that make life a little more bearable. “

     Knowing that the hard work that we put into making Dance Marathon a reality has such a large impact on these children’s lives is what inspired me to come back in 2010 as a delegate, in 2011 as a captain, in 2012 as Finance Overall, and this year as your Overall Director. It’s the the memories we make, the cures we help find, and the diversionary activities we provide that make staying up a little later every night worth it. My recommendation to you is simple: be a part of Dance Marathon.  Whether you are a dancer, a captain, a staff member, a fundraiser, or just a visitor at the event, be a part of something bigger than yourself. Open up to the kids and get to know them.  Show them you care. I promise it will be worth it. 

Two Dancers. Two Experiences.

Happy Dance Week!

Here are TWO amazing stories from past and present dancers.

Alexis Coryell is a Family Relations Captain.

     The one thing I loved most about being a dancer was the opportunity to meet so many amazing people and know that we were all connected by something so much bigger than ourselves. We were not only standing for 26.2 hours together; we were all fighting for those children at Shands Hospital for Children to have a future. Yes, our feet hurt and we were all tired, but every time a Miracle Family got on the stage to tell their story, it gave us even more drive and adrenaline to keep pressing on. These children at Shands don’t get breaks from their illnesses or struggles, so we didn’t need any either. I absolutely loved being a dancer and can’t wait for over 800 more students to get to experience all that I got to during DM 2011!

Alexandra Dati is a fourth-year dancer with Dance Marathon.

What’s it like to be a four-year dancer?

     Standing for 26.2 hours is not meant to be fun or an always-enjoyable experience, but it gets better every year. I was a pro this past year! Before it was a huge challenge, but now it’s something I just look forward to. Seeing the families makes it all worth it for me.

What is your favorite part of the event? 

     My favorite part is definitely the closing ceremony. No matter how hard the past 26.2 hours have been, when you get to that part of the experience, I think you’re finally able to realize what Dance Marathon truly is. You understand the impact you have made by going to events and fundraising throughout the entire year.

What are you most looking forward to as a fourth-year dancer?

     I’ve heard that four-year dancers get to spend more time with the families of the Miracle Children, and I would love to do that.

How do you hope to inspire others?

     By being positive and showing that standing for 26.2 hours is possible, I want to encourage others to love it as much as I do. I just want to be at the event to make other people happy.