Droverthon is a philanthropic organization on campus that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) hospitals and for the Miracle Children. For Oklahoma, the CMN hospitals are the Children’s Health Foundation at the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City and the Saint Francis Children’s Hospital in Tulsa. The children who receive any kind of care at CMN hospitals are known as Miracle Children.
Droverthon hosts many fundraisers throughout the year, which have included Wax-A-Werewolf during Halloween, Candy Grams for Valentine’s Day, and Walk-A-Thon. Their main event is a dance marathon, which will see a danced choreographed by Bella Wilson, a second-year business management major, to this year’s song “DJ Got US Fallin’ in Love” by Usher. The event is Thursday, March 7 at 7 p.m. in the Ballroom, and check-in for the event begins at 6:30 p.m.
The event’s theme this year is Under the Sea, and the event will have various activities such as a craft station, bracelet making, and facepainting. There will also be a room at the event called the Jellyfish Room, which is a place where people can go and read the stories of the Miracle Children, Vivianne and Veronica.
“The support for kids at the Children’s Hospital is important, and I like the fact that our students are doing it,” Dr. Jeannette Loutsch, the faculty advisor of Droverthon, said. “I think it’s a good activity and I think the ability for them to participate in things like that now will help them to continue to do that as they graduate and move out to the various communities, wherever they end up.”
The money raised by Droverthon, and other dance marathon organizations around the country, goes directly back to helping Miracle Children receive the care they need. The donations the CMN hospitals receive go to various areas, such as patient wellbeing, medical research, and funding medical equipment needed to treat patients.
“My favorite part of Droverthon is that the money that we raise does go to something bigger, and it does help people that can’t really afford it,” Leslie Randall, vice executive director of Droverthon, said. “All the money that we raise does go to help people pay for treatments or hospitals to pay for equipment, which really helps some kids.”
To learn more about the Droverthon organization, their fundraisers, and how to register for dance marathon event, check out Drovethon’s Instagram (@droverthon). Droverthon hosts their general meetings at 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday in the Emerson Room in Austin Hall.
Luka Messick is a first-year physics major at the Univeristy of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
