University of South Carolina Dance Marathon
January 23, 2025
University of South Carolina Students Stand Together to Make Endless Miracles
University of South Carolina Dance Marathon celebrates a yearlong fundraising initiative on Feb. 22, revealing the number of miracles made with each dollar raised.
University of South Carolina Dance Marathon (USCDM) will hold its annual Main Event on Feb. 22 to celebrate a student movement changing the future of children’s health.
USCDM remains the state’s largest student-run philanthropic organization. In 27 years, it has raised more than 9 million dollars for Prisma Health Children’s Hospital — Midlands, a local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. All funds directly benefit the hospital’s life-changing and crucial initiatives for patients and their families, including its Child Life Program. This program focuses on stress reduction by fostering healthy coping strategies to promote comfort, security and safety.
“The most important thing I’ve gained from leading USCDM is the connection to the Columbia community. Not only have we been able to make a difference for local kids and families, but we have felt support across the Midlands. We saw this first-hand when some of the children and families touched by USCDM got to walk the field at Williams-Brice Stadium during a football game this season,” Mary Brooks Wilson, USCDM president, said. “The crowd’s cheers brought encouragement and strength to keep fighting for change.”
Main Event, taking place on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center, culminates months of dedicated students raising money and awareness for the hospital. It will welcome more than 1,000 participants who all will leave a direct impact on the hospital’s ability to provide transformative resources, such as charitable care, equipment, research, education, service advancement and patient services. Event programming includes guest speakers, performances, merchandise, activities, dancing and the final flip total for the year.
Children’s health is an urgent global issue impacting the future of society, with the impact of children’s hospitals going far beyond helping individual children and families. Children are our future. While USCDM makes a difference in the local Columbia community, the work done at children’s hospitals ensures a healthy future for society at large.
For its 27th year on campus, USCDM introduced its “Together For Tomorrow” campaign. Such a notion serves as a reminder of the importance of coming together to change the future of children’s health, which does not just impact today but sparks lasting impact for the days, months and years to come. We are not just fighting for today; we are fighting for tomorrow.
“Our campaign, ‘Together For Tomorrow,’ encompasses our goal to promote togetherness in all that we do. Community is what inspires me to keep ‘dancing’ and is what will remain at the core of all my decisions. This year, our intention is to grow in the community and continue making miracles today for tomorrow’s impact,” Wilson said.
Join USCDM on Feb. 22 to not just work toward today, but to build a healthier tomorrow.
About University of South Carolina Dance Marathon (USCDM)
University of South Carolina Dance Marathon (USCDM) is the largest student-run philanthropic organization at USC and in South Carolina. Year-round, it raises awareness and funds for Prisma Health Children’s Hospital — Midlands, its local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, to provide patients and their families with the best experience possible, focusing on treatment as well as their emotional well-being. To do so, it engages students and community members in entertaining, educational and service-oriented philanthropic events. In the spring semester, USCDM holds its annual Main Event, a 14-hour, no-sleeping dance marathon, where it reveals its yearlong fundraising total at the event’s end.
