Hundreds of Dance Marathon supporters gathered to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the student-run charity organization at this month’s overall meeting, held in the Union Ballroom yesterday evening.

“I Love ’95” was the theme of the event, which featured hit music from 1995, the year Dance Marathon started at the University.

“Tonight’s meeting … is really just to bring together everyone who is involved with Dance Marathon,” said Jared Wright, president of Dance Marathon. The meeting, he added, is a time for people to get information about Dance Marathon’s ongoing fundraising efforts.

“We want BGSU students and the community to really know what Dance Marathon is, who it helps and how they can get involved, to help these miracles continue to happen,” Wright said.

Information tables lined the edges of the Ballroom, and people had the opportunity to buy Dance Marathon apparel to support the charity.

Intermittently, throughout the informational segment of the meeting, the room erupted in chants of, “For the kids! For the kids!”

After the meeting, students auditioned to be a part of “DMTV Real World.” The five chosen students will be filmed prior to the Dance Marathon proceedings, and the tape of their escapades will be a part of Dance Marathon’s end-of-the-year movie.

Dance Marathon is an annual, year-long charity effort at Bowling Green. Dozens of campus organizations volunteer their time to raise money, which is donated to Mercy Children’s Hospital. The amount of money that is raised is announced each year at the final event, a 32-hour “Dance Marathon,” which is held at the Student Recreation Center.

This year’s Dance Marathon, with the theme “A Decade of Miracles, A Lifetime of Hope” will be held March 19 and 20.

People who attended yesterday’s overall gained insight into the lives of children who are being helped by Dance Marathon donation money.

“At each overall, we try to have at least one miracle family come to talk and tell their story so students can see how much they are affecting them,” said Dance Marathon publicity chair, Brittany Barhite. “The families get to meet, the kids get to have fun … and all the students who come realize the impact they are making.”

“The money that we raise goes straight to Mercy Children’s Hospital, and the families serve as sort-of our poster families of who we are really helping,” Wright said.

Three miracle families were at yesterday’s meeting to share their experiences with the crowd.

Kathy Mitchell, the mother of 3-year-old Ben Bob, said her family decided to get involved with Dance Marathon to support other families that have children with health problems. Ben Bob was born prematurely, at a weight of 1.7 pounds. He currently has to be fed liquid formula through a tube.

“We know the families going through this right now need the support,” Mitchell said. “It’s really nice BG does this.”

According to Wright, “growth” is the best word to describe Dance Marathon’s development over the past 10 years.

Starting out as an exclusively Greek charity, Dance Marathon has branched out significantly.

“Throughout the years, Dance Marathon just started to grow more and more until it finally became its own organization,” Wright said.

According to Barhite, in its first year, Dance Marathon raised $45,000, and last year the total amount raised was $151,000.

And this year participation is up.

“Student organizations and residence halls are just so willing to help,” Wright said. “Whether it’s just coming to events and supporting or planning new events for their organization, to promote Dance Marathon.”