Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s Dance Marathon hosted a themed fundraiser of dancing through the decades in the MSD gym on Saturday, April 22. The purpose of the dance was to raise money for patients of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. The money the students raised could pay for medical bills, equipment, or a hotel a parent needs to stay at overnight.

“The event was a marathon, so basically, we raised money for children who are sick and we are part of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital,” senior and president of Dance Marathon Isabel Gonzalez said. “In our event, we tried to raise as much money as we possibly can. We even had a few kids from the hospital come and support us.”

The dance included multiple booths where participants could buy a service such as hair braiding, fortune telling and henna drawing. The booths at the dance also gave them a chance to win something free, make a bracelet, buy a snow cone or purchase MSD merch.

“This is our final event where we try to raise as much money as possible and at the end of the day we show how much money we have made throughout the entire year,” senior and partner shop chair Alexandra Soreara said. “A lot of our donation money comes from this event.”

The money that students spent on these booths went to the final tally of how much money was raised for the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital families and presented at the end of the night.

“It’s all for the kids,” English teacher Chelsea Briggs, who helps run Dance Marathon, said.

Every hour, the seniors of Dance Marathon performed a through the decades dance that had music from every era from the 1960s until present day to keep the participants excited and encouraged participants to join in.

Dance Marathon’s event also included performances from LED Dance that lit up the gym mats and reigning champs of Boys’ Powderpuff Cheerleading performed their winning routine.

A family of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital came in towards the end of the day and shared their story of their experience at the hospital. Gift baskets for the family and two young daughters were filled to the brim with toys, gifts and treats. The family shared their story and went into detail of how well Nicholas Children’s Hospital treated them during their stay.

Dance Marathon raised over $10,000 in all. All the money went to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital to help benefit their patients’ needs.