Nina Klopfer likes to make lists.

The 11-year-old Bowling Green native writes lists of her favorite restaurants, favorite books and other ‘favorites’ that are important to her.

But the longest list she has made so far is one with over 700 entries — the list of everyone she knows.

This weekend Klopfer, a Miracle Family child, was able to add to that list as she interacted with numerous dancers, moralers and other kids at the University’s tenth annual Dance Marathon.

The annual 32-hour student-organized event raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network, a children’s hospital charity.

In November of last year, Klopfer contracted a bad cold which developed into Guillian-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder, which is not contagious.

“When you have this cold, the particular virus that you have at that time looks enough like the protein in your nerve coverings that your body mounts a response against the virus, but it also attacks the nerve coverings and causes inflammation,” said Cathy Klopfer, Nina’s mother.

The disease, which affects one or two people out of 100,000 per year, can cause paralysis of limbs, and in more serious cases, paralysis of the diaphragm, which necessitates the use of a respirator.

Although Klopfer’s case was relatively mild, the sixth-grader was in the hospital for six days with limited mobility of her hands and legs.

During the time they spent in St. Vincent’s hospital, the Klopfer family experienced numerous amenities that are made possible through donations to the Children’s Miracle Network.

Shower facilities were provided for the parents, and Nina had many diversions to keep her mind off her illness, including a play room and a visit from hospital dogs.

“The facility at St. V’s was as comfortable as you could ask for,” said Dale Klopfer, Nina’s father.

When she left the hospital, Klopfer had to use a walker and wheelchair to get around, and she missed two months of school.

Klopfer has since had two relapses, but she can walk again without help. Her mother says she is about 80 percent better, but Klopfer admits she still experiences pain in her legs.

Pain, however, seemed to be the farthest thing from Klopfer’s, and other children’s minds this weekend, as they played games, ate pizza, whacked piñatas and hung out with members of their sponsor groups.

“I just think of it as a place to have a lot more fun that I would if I was at home,” Klopfer said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Since the time she spent in the hospital, Nina has been no stranger to charity, and she has an armful of rubber donation bracelets, modeled after the original Livestrong bracelet, as proof.

Money raised in the sale of the bracelets benefits causes varying from breast cancer research to the Children’s Miracle Network.

“Most of them are for a good cause,” Klopfer said of why she started collecting the bracelets.

“And,” she added. “They are a fad.”

Over the course of the weekend at Dance Marathon, students from Klopfer’s sponsor groups, including Alpha Phi and Kappa Delta, gave her ten new bracelets to add to her collection, which now stretches in a rainbow of overlapping rubber to her elbow.

Klopfer’s father, a University professor, has watched Dance Marathon grow as he has run at the track during the event for several years.

“Over the years it has gotten bigger and bigger and louder, and more successful,” he said.

Since they have seen first-hand what Dance Marathon benefits, the Klopfers agree that their impression of the event has changed.

“Being actually involved as a family, it’s a lot more meaningful to me, and now I have a much deeper understanding of why it is important,” said Klopfer’s mother. “When you sit there beside your kid’s bed in the hospital room, wondering what they even have, and then you go, and there is a place for you to take a shower and there are people who come in and say, ‘What movie do you want to see?’ and, ‘When you’re better, you can go to this room and do art,’ . . . that kept her going so much. A lot of those people and things are provided directly by the money that these guys raise . . . I just really have a new interest in supporting Dance Marathon.”