Hi Everyone!
I am now a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill and throughout my years here, I have had the wonderful privilege of being a part of UNC Dance Marathon, which benefits the patients and families at N.C. Children’s Hospital.

UNC Dance Marathon is a year-long fundraiser that culminates into a 24-hour marathon where over 1,000 students pledge to stand on their feet in an effort to show support to the families at the hospital. I am so fortunate because I have not only gotten the amazing opportunity to be a dancer the last three years, but I have also been a member on the Fundraising Projects Committee. This year, my final year at Carolina, I am excited and honored to be the Fundraising Projects Chair!

My fundraising goal is $2,400 and I would love to raise $100.00 for every hour I will be marathoning! I would love for you to help because...
UNC Dance Marathon has been the best experience I have had at Carolina! I am so fortunate to have had the chance to be a part of it and every day I am in awe of its accomplishments. The first time I witnessed the end of the Marathon, I got chills. My whole freshman year I had been working towards a cause that I had never experienced in person, but had only heard how inspiring it was. I looked back on everything I had done that school year: the many canning games and percentage nights, and the hundreds of letters that had been stuffed, stamped, and delivered. Standing there for the first time, I saw the families that were impacted by the joint effort of hundreds of UNC students. For the first time, I felt the unification by the student body for a cause that was much bigger than any of us, a cause close to my heart. Because of that night and have had that same awe-inspiring experience twice more since then, I have been changed for the better. Not only have I made friends through this organization that have challenged me every day to be the best I can be, but I have also had the opportunity to meet families through this organization that have challenged me to better stronger. More than anything, these relationships have taught me that there is a greater purpose to life and that love and passion are the best motivators.

What does the Marathon mean to me? The marathon means never giving up. It means dancing for the kids at the hospital who can’t. It means strength. It means hope for a better tomorrow. The Marathon means even when you think you are having a bad day, you probably aren’t. It’s realizing that the small, trivial things in life we focus on day to day don’t matter. Lastly, the Marathon means limitlessness. The Marathon means being limitless in your love for the patients and their families at the hospital. It means being limitless in friends who feel the same way you do and who demonstrate their energy for the cause. And it means being limitless in your potential. No longer is anything impossible.

What can your contribution do? Here are some examples of what your donation can help accomplish!
• $25 can pay for meal vouchers for a family of four
• $50 can give a gas card to help a family get home from the hospital
• $100 can let two teenagers live their dream of going to prom
• $250 can pay for five families to give holiday gifts to their children receiving treatment
• $500 can pay a rent bill that allows a family to keep their home while their children are in the hospital
• $1,000 can buy a rocking glider for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit when parents just want to hold their children the most

To learn more about UNC Dance Marathon, visit www.uncmarathon.org OR you can contact me at fundraising@uncdm.org with any questions.

Thank you in advance for your donation!

For the Kids,
Carrie Dobbins
Fundraising Projects Chair
2012 UNC Dance Marathon
252-361-2989
fundraising@uncdm.org