A 2012 Lynnville-Sully graduate has found a way to combine her love of dance with her love of people. Through the annual Luther College Dance Marathon, Cierra Stafford is raising money for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital and having a blast while doing it.
The daughter of Phil and Lynn Stafford of Lynnville, Stafford is gearing up for her college’s Dance Marathon, set for Apr. 2. In the weeks left before the event, Stafford hopes to raise the rest of the money needed to reach her personal fundraising goal of $3,000.
ABOUT DANCE MARATHON
Dance Marathon 2015
Dance Marathon is a nationwide movement involving college and high school students at more than 450 schools - all raising money for Children's Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals. These students spend a year learning leadership and life skills while raising funds and gathering awareness for kids and families experiencing pediatric illness.
The year culminates with a 12- to 40-hour event where students stay on their feet through dancing, games, entertainment, and interaction with children's hospital patients and families in symbolic support of children served by their local CMN Hospital.
More students participate in Miracle Network Dance Marathon than any other student-led philanthropy in the United States. Since its founding in 1991, this nationwide movement has raised more than $106 million for CMN Hospitals. Each event is entirely student-run, and 100 percent of the funds raised are donated directly to each event’s local CMN Hospital.
STAFFORD SIGNS UP
Cierra Stafford (right), a 2012 Lynnville-Sully grad, is pictured with her friend Nicole Niehaus at the 2015 Luther College Dance Marathon.
Stafford first found out about Dance Marathon as a college freshman attending an activities fair hosted by Luther in Decorah. Since Dance Marathon was new to Luther, only six people were involved at that point. They were working to recruit more people and finalize details for the first ever Dance Marathon event at Luther in the spring of 2014.
In the fall semester of her sophomore year, Stafford decided to apply to be a part of a reinforcement team to make the event possible.
“I remember sitting in the recital hall at the meeting and thinking, ‘Wow, this organization seemed to touch and change so many lives,’” Stafford said.
The organization became even closer to her heart when she learned one of the “miracle kids” they would be dancing for had been diagnosed with HLH (Hemophagocytic LymphoHistiocytosis) at the age of two months. Stafford remembered the story of 2011 Pella Christian grad Megan Hoogeveen, who died from HLH the summer after graduating.
“Although I was not very close with Megan Hoogeveen, I recall the impact her passing had on me as a part of the Lynnville-Sully softball team that summer and how we all banded together to play in her memory,” Stafford said. “That is when I knew I was meant to be involved in this organization.”
After the meeting, Stafford applied to be a Morale Captain with Dance Marathon. “They described this position as being a leader, a person who loves to dance, and who doesn’t care to be silly in front of everyone,” she said. “Through my time at L-S, I was on the dance team and also involved in speech and theatre. With all of that experience and my goofy personality, I knew this was the position I was made for.”
The Dance Marathon organizers must have agreed as Stafford was granted the position. Stafford went to work getting her friends and people she didn’t even know involved in the organization. That first year, they raised $38,612.01. Stafford said she cried tears of happiness when she learned the total, knowing the money was going to a great cause. She took it a step further and also donated eight inches of her hair to make wigs for kids with cancer.
GROWING INVOLVEMENT
The second year of Dance Marathon, Stafford, as a junior, held the same role as a morale captain and also made a goal to raise $1,000 personally. The school’s goal was $47,000, which was one year of tuition at Luther. Both goals were surpassed when Stafford raised $2,000 and the school raised over $57,000.
After such a successful year, Stafford wanted to have an even bigger role in the organization. For her senior year, she is the recruitment and morale co-chair and is in charge of 38 morale captains and recruiting all of the other dancers for the big event.
The 12-hour Luther College Dance Marathon will begin at noon on Saturday, Apr. 2, and end at midnight. Every two hours will feature a different theme: Purple, Norse, ’Murica, Hawaiian, pajamas, and purple power hour. Every hour, a different family or student will tell their story about what Dance Marathon and the U of I Children’s Hospital means to them. Other activities like games, inflatables, dancing, yoga, Zumba, swing dance, and more will keep the dancers moving throughout the half day.
The school’s goal this year is $65,000. Stafford is over halfway ($1,751) to her personal goal of $3,000. To help Stafford reach $3,000, tax-deductible donations can be made online at http://tinyurl.com/hac9w9c/. Cash or checks made out to Luther College Dance Marathon may be sent to Stafford at 700 College Dr. SPO 2426, Decorah, IA 52101.
The following is a snippet from the email Stafford sent out asking for donations: “This organization is near and dear to my heart as I know multiple families who have been or are being treated at the U of I Children’s Hospital… This year, my personal goal is $3,000. I raised $2,000 last year, and I have never felt a more fulfilling feeling. This past summer, I went to a conference in Baton Rouge, LA, for Dance Marathon participants all across America, and I learned so much more about the organization. During this event, we also had a guest speaker who started the campaign ‘Because I Said I Would,’ which pushes people to make commitments and follow through with them because they said they would. I WILL RAISE $3,000 for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital because I SAID I WOULD! Please help me meet this goal and change the lives of many kids who are treated on a daily basis at University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.”
