Students from Cornell, SU dance for dollars for Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- Students at Cornell and Syracuse Universities raised more than $132,000 last weekend at dance marathons held on their respective campuses to benefit Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.

The Cornell Big Red Thon pulled in $21,000 Nov. 5, while SU’s OttoTHON, raised more than $111,000 a day later. More than 1,400 students registered to participate in the two events.

“We are grateful to the students who organize these dance events with Children’s Miracle Network, and to everyone who participates,” said Lorie Riedl, retail development coordinator at the Upstate Foundation. “It’s incredible to see so many people having a great time and knowing that the end result is going to be such a huge benefit to our patients and families at Upstate.”

After six hours of dancing, marking the event’s halfway point, SU students dancing in the OttoTHON marched to Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital and performed the morale dance as patients watched from windows. The morale dance is a routine learned by all participants to reinvigorate the group when fatigue sets in. Patients waved to the dancers and cheered as they performed.

“It was a truly special moment for everyone,” Riedl said. “It gave them the opportunity to see some of the why they were here and why they were doing this. For the kids.”

Over the last two years, both universities have a raised a combined total of more than $281,000 for the children’s hospital from campus dance marathons.

For information on how you can support OttoTHON or Big Red THON, contact the Upstate Foundation at 315-464-4416.