Miracle Makers hosted Raiderthon on November 15 | Photographer Jessica Fugett | The Wright State Guardian
Miracle Makers surpassed their Raiderthon goal and raised $58,056 for Dayton Children’s Hospital. The goal they set at the beginning of the year was $57,170.
The event also raised more than last year’s Raiderthon which was $34,202.
Raiderthon is a 15-hour dance marathon hosted by Miracle Makers. The goal of Raiderthon is to raise money for sick or injured children through Dayton’s local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.
“We are so thankful for the community around us because without them this would have never been possible. This was one of the better turnouts for dancers. We had about 350 registered online before our event kicked off and we had about 50 people walk up day of,” said Lauren Macgregor, executive director of Miracle Makers. “We were able to add a few new miracle families this year, so we got to celebrate some new stories and I am still shook with how hard my team has pushed this last semester. We raised close to $10,000 [the day of Raiderthon] alone.”
Every hour on the hour a miracle child tells their story and shares their experience with the dancers. Raiderthon includes many events to raise money throughout the event such as donating hair, throwing pie in people’s faces and raffle prizes.
“Raiderthon was really rewarding for me this year seeing how much money we raised for the kids at Dayton Children’s and knowing how much it will impact the lives of those children going forward,” said Alexis Hobbs, donor relations director for Miracle Makers.
There were inflatables, dancing, Zumba, a performance by Surround Sound and food was available. Some other events were a performance by Emerald Jazz, a magic show by Magician Joseph Tran, a limbo competition, a cheer performance, a vendor fair, lip-syncing and a rave hour.
The morale captains kept everyone energized and periodically taught dancers a choreographed dance that was performed at the basketball game that night and again at the end of Raiderthon.
“Our fundraising goal this year as an entire organization was $57,170. This was meant to represent the 170 beds at Dayton Children’s Hospital and the seven years that WSU Miracle Makers has hosted Raiderthon,” said Morale Captain Amber Barga. “Personally, my favorite part of Raiderthon this year was a tie between donating my hair and performing the Morale Dance for the last time.”
“My last Raiderthon was by far the best! We raised the most money, the miracle kids and students were amazing, the morale captains were awesome and of course dancing for 15 hours was well worth it,” said Katelyn Welch, morale chair and morale captain for Raiderthon.
“Raiderthon went amazingly this year. Our team worked really well together. We were able to fundraise more than I’ve ever seen in my time as both a morale captain and a dancer. It was a really fun time with good food and great people. A lot of people stayed the entire time which was awesome,” said Lee Huntsberger, three-time morale captain and morale chair for Raiderthon.
The miracle children who attended Raiderthon this year were Diem, Gabe, Carmine, Timothy, Joy, Jay, Mattie, Peyton and Renee.
“[Raiderthon] is an initiative of our campus to help build a future for kids in the Dayton area. Not just the Dayton area but people around America and the world. We are trying to better the lives of the next generation and we do that by dancing,” said Huntsberger. “By participating in Raiderthon, bringing smiles to the faces of those around us and painting our campus rainbow colors for a day for 15 hours straight, just to make a difference in the world. This year was probably the best representation of that.”
