The South Windsor For The Local Kids (SWFTLK) club held its 10th annual Nicki Cartier Dance Marathon on Friday, February 23 from 6 to 9 pm in the SWHS cafeteria.
The event included dancing, games, speeches, and a raffle, all to raise money for the Connecticut Children’s Memorial Hospital. Many patients at the hospital are called miracle children in reference to all the medical tribulation they’ve lived through.
“We have several miracle children who have benefited from the fundraising to come and talk about their journey,” said Lillian Whitmore, advisor for the SWFTLK club.
The concept of a dance marathon to raise money for miracle children was started by Penn State with their program called THON, and is now prevalent throughout the country in different universities and organizations.
“Essentially, throughout the year, all the fraternities and sororities fundraise and have a giant dance-a-thon, which is about 18 hours,” explained Whitmore when speaking with The Prowl.
Other state universities, including UConn, followed in Penn State’s footsteps and held their own dance marathons to raise money for children’s hospitals. While UConn does their own fundraising, they also reach out to K-12 students through their Jonathon program in order to raise even more money. SWHS is one of these schools, and one of UConn’s biggest contributors.
“It has been so much fun to work with all of the elementary, middle, and high schools around the state who have students that are super passionate about raising money and awareness for the [miracle children] families,” Leah Craig, UConn Jonathon representative, told the Prowl.
This year’s dance marathon is in the memory of Nicki Cartier, who organized the very first SWHS dance marathon in 2014. During her time as a UConn student, she helped raise millions of dollars for HuskyTHON.
Cartier passed away in March 2023, but was previously a patient at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for many years.
The money raised goes directly towards the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to help families in the community who are impacted by sickness or disease.
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Students dancing on tables during the SWFTLK during the dance-a-thon
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People dancing as a group at SWHS 10th annual Dance Marathon.
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Speeches are given at SWHS 10th annual Dance Marathon.
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“It helps us feel the love and support from those that surround us,” said Amanda Ramsdell, mother of Michael Ramsdell, when speaking with The Prowl. “They’re there to help us when we need it.”
Michael Ramsdell, a South Windsor miracle child, was honored this year as a speaker of the event. He and his mother, Amanda, talked about the trials that Michael has overcome during childhood sickness and how the communal support for the medical center has helped their family.
Last year, SWFTLK raised over $10,000 throughout the whole year. This year, the club was hoping to raise at least $6,000 After their successful night of dancing, they exceeded their goal, raising $8,000 in total throughout this year.
