Texas THON!

On Saturday February 25, Texas Spirits joined numerous other organizations to fundraise for Dell Children’s by pledging to remain standing for 12 hours at the tenth annual Texas Thon, formally Dance Marathon. Spirits alone raised over $1500 and in total a record breaking $50,839.51 was donated to Dell Children’s from UT student fundraising. The day was both exhausting and moving for the twenty-six Spirits participating. 

The day began with breakfast and team building among the new teams made for the day. Activities like What Not to Wear, dodge ball, box car relays, karaoke, a performance from Gigglepants, and presentations from three families of Dell Children’s miracle children filled the time, but the urge to sit down came early and often for most Spirits and participants. All the thon dancers learned a Morale dance that took nearly all day to learn but the result was well choreographed. Between learning a dance and all the other exciting activities dancers snacked on some great food from local Austin donors.   

The most moving part of the day came with about thirty minutes left in the day. Three miracle children from Dell Children’s walked around the entire court in Gregory Gym to all the thon dancers and removed a hospital bracelet with the name of a child on it from each of their wrist. This was to represent the release from thon and the commitment dancers made to stand For the Kids. The entire day was an inspiration and the final reveal of the total funds raised was incredible. Thon earned almost twice what they earned in 2011. 

Maya Brown Spring ’12 Weenie, Mayté Salazar Spring ’11, Caitlin O’Brien Fall ’11, Jacqui Bontke Fall ’11, Anjali Sethi Spring ’12 Weenie, Emily Lamon Fall ’11, Ashley McAdams Fall ’11, and Namanda Musoke Fall ’11 after twelve hours on their feet! 

Thon Committee presenting the record breaking total of $50,839.51 donated to Dell Children’s