Baylor student group raises thousands for local children’s hospital
For the past three years, the Baylor student group BU For the Kids has hosted a dance marathon on campus. Dubbed the “BU-THON,” volunteers push through eight continuous hours of moving, dancing, grooving to music until the wee hours of the morning — all to raise money for Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Hospital in nearby Temple, Texas.
This year’s event was the largest ever. Members decorated Russell Gym with streamers and balloons. Game booths, Jenga, cornhole, video games, face painting, a photo booth, and food from local businesses lined the walls of the gym. And in the middle of it all was the dance marathon, whose participants danced in blacklight and glowsticks until 2 a.m. — cheered on by some McLane Children’s patients and their parents.
“It was so heartwarming to see the kids play ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ with huge college kids with such energy, or when a little girl came up to me to get Pokey O’s,” said Baylor junior Amy Kumar, BU For the Kids’ vice president of operations. “It really gives a real-life connection to college kids and gives them hope on how these kids are so happy and so full of joy. Why not give up this one night to give it all to them?”
In total, BU For the Kids raised more than $12,000 this year. The donations go to the Children’s Miracle Network to help provide playgrounds, games, toys and other gifts for children at McLane Children’s Hospital.
“What you’re doing, this is a concrete example right here,” said Melanie Trojanowski, who was there with her daughter, Paisley, a patient at McLane Children’s Hospital. “Your money turns into such great things for the kids.”
BU For the Kids is proving that there are many ways to use your talents to serve – and that you don’t have to wait until graduation or until someone else takes charge. Only four years old, the organization has raised tens of thousands of dollars to make a real impact on children in their community.
Sic ’em, BU For the Kids!
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