Students hold inaugural Dance Marathon at Stanford on Jan. 22

The public is invited to join in Stanford's first Dance Marathon, a 24-hour fundraiser that begins on Saturday at noon. Some 300 students will boogie until 12 p.m. Sunday to raise $30,000 for pediatric AIDS research, with pillow fights, a glow-in-the-dark hour and toga time to help keep everyone on their feet.

Students Pat Bomhack and Sanjay Shah envision the event as the beginning of a major tradition on campus that will draw support from students, staff and the community. Dance Marathon, a philanthropic event that started at Northwestern University 30 years ago, is now put on by students at more than 100 college campuses nationwide to support a variety of causes.

The combination of entertainment and charity work has made Dance Marathon the most successful student-run philanthropy in the country. Northwestern hosts a 30-hour marathon that raises about $500,000 every year, while students at Pennsylvania State University dance for 48 hours and last year alone raised $3.6 million.

Stanford's students have pledged to raise $30,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a worldwide nonprofit dedicated to researching and eradicating pediatric AIDS. Event organizers aim to plant the seed for something that will grow exponentially in the years to come. (Students at the University of California-Los Angeles raised $30,000 their first year, doubled that a year later, and last year, raised $120,000.)

Stanford's inaugural marathon, to be held in Roble Gym, will feature speakers from the Glaser foundation, as well as those afflicted with HIV/AIDS. There also will be educational displays throughout the 24 hours.

"Dance Marathon will unite the campus in a way that no other student event can," Bomhack says. "The goal of Stanford Dance Marathon is to inform and motivate the community to do as much as they can in the name of this cause."

For more information on Dance Marathon, or to make a donation, go to http://dancemarathon.stanford.edu.

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