Students donned their sweat pants and dancing shoes, trying to keep the boogie going for 24 hours straight this weekend. Helping to raise money for terminally ill children in conjunction with Camp Good Days and Special Times, the 25th annual "Teddi Dance" took place at St. John Fisher College in Rochester.
The dance went from 8 p.m. until 8 p.m. the next day, with over 50 UB students in attendance. The dance has raised $500,000 over the years for the Teddi Project.
This year alone, over $40,000 dollars was raised.
St. John Fisher students have a personal connection to the cause that began in honor of Elizabeth "Teddi" Mervis, daughter of Gary Mervis, a football coach at the college who founded Camp Good Days in 1982 as a retreat for young cancer patients.
In recent years St. John Fisher has reached out to other area college students to help raise money.
Sorority sisters of Phi Sigma attended the event for the third consecutive year. The Buffalo sorority has placed second in a competition for in-group fundraising over the past three years.
According to Chelsea Signore, senior sociology major and president of Phi Sigma, the event is one very close to their hearts.
"It's something that is really important to us. Everyone's has links to cancer and especially when it comes to children, anything you can do will help," Signore said.
This year's dance marathon kicked off with inspirational speeches by Mervis and Lou Buttino, founders of the Teddi Project at St John Fisher.
The dance was revved up with energy by a variety of live bands, and themed hours such as disco, oldies and boy-band karaoke. Tackling 24 hours of dancing and exertion may seem daunting, but the dance theme changes and a spirit of camaraderie helped keep everyone motivated, Signore said.
"They decorate the gym with motivational quotes and some of the campers make signs for us. We bring costumes and dress up and have a great time," Signore said.
For those who could not attend, a live Web cam broadcast of the event was available for the duration of the dance-a-thon, and people could share their support through a message board that was displayed on a projection screen throughout the dance.
Dancing was only interrupted by inspirational speeches, raffles, and special guest appearances by campers from Camp Good Days.
"I enjoy the last hour of the dance the most, when the campers come in and dance with us," Signore said.
There were more than 400 participants, mostly from St. John Fisher, but also from surrounding colleges in Western New York such as Nazareth and the University of Rochester, including local high schools.
This was the first year that UB has sent a team to the dance-a-thon, sponsored by the Leadership Development Center (LDC). According to Amy Wilson, Associate Director of the LDC, the "Teddi Dance for Love" could be a test run to spark interest in beginning a charity dance marathon event here at UB.
"There's a desire for UB community to do something like that, and one of the reasons we're coordinating it. We have plans for a UB dance marathon. It's a very popular fundraising idea," Wilson said.
Ideas such as the dance-a-thon are among some of the new ideas coming from the Leadership Development Center, which Wilson says is hoping to expand its community service resources.
"Part of our responsibilities in leadership development is community service, a small aspect at this point, but we will be hiring a professional staff member to take on community engagement activities for the upcoming fall," Wilson said.
Heather Schoff, a graduate assistant in the LDC, suggests that UB support a charity each year, selected by a committee. It is also important to find a charity in which students have a vested interest.
"We would like to find something that students believe in and connect with. It could maybe be kept locally to the Buffalo and giving back to the community," Schoff said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
