Bobcats trip the light fantastic for good cause

Sarah Vaughn, director of sponsorship/family at BobcaThon and a junior integrated social studies education major, was one of those who cried with happiness when the second annual BobcaThon dance marathon revealed at the event’s conclusion on Feb. 13 that it had raised more than $40,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RHMC) of Central Ohio.

When her sister became sick years before with reflex sympathetic dystrophy/complex regional pain syndrome, her family benefitted from the Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland, so this fundraiser was personal. “My family had wanted to find a way to give back to Ronald McDonald House,” she explains. “To be part of something that gives so much to deserving families—there’s nothing like it.”

Carly Damman, BSJ ’14, founded BobcaThon during her final semester on the Athens Campus. Damman now works for RMHC of Central Ohio as a community partnerships associate. As a senior, she visited to learn about career opportunities and “fell in love” with how it was “such a magical escape” for families in need. Damman asked staff what she could do as a student to help, and they suggested starting the fundraising dance marathon that became BobcaThon (a name chosen by Damman and others).

By the time of the first event in 2015, Damman was a full-time employee at RMHC of Central Ohio, but she returned to speak. Damman was impressed with the happening that she helped create and talked about how it benefitted students as well as RMHC of Central Ohio.

“Students get a sense of community,” she says. “Getting everybody together in one room for 12 hours and bonding for a cause is powerful.”

Hannah Trew, director of campus outreach for BobcaThon and a senior communications studies major, agrees. “BobcaThon has had a huge impact on my life. It’s shown the impact that a few college students can make.”

—David Theis has published journalism in Texas Monthly, Houston Press, and The Texas Observer, among other outlets. His books include Literary Houston (Texas Christian University Press, 2011), edited essays, and Rio Ganges (Winedale, 2002), a literary novel.

Bobcathon by the numbers

Here are other numbers about BobcaThon 2016:

• 9 ambassador families attended to share how the Ronald McDonald House in Columbus improved their family life when dealing with significant childhood healthcare problems
• 10 OHIO medical students provided medical care to dancers
• 16 hit tunes compiled for the line dance
• 23 members on the student leadership team
• $32 average donation
• 55 pounds of nuts purchased for a trail mix bar to give dancers an energy boost
• 158 balloons decorated Baker Center Ballroom, the locale for the shindig
• 189 students danced
• 400 students participated
• 405 nights of lodging amassed (each night costing approximately $100)
• 1,000 glow sticks waved during the “rave” hour (when lights were turned off and techno music was played)
• 1,213 donors
• 10,000+ videos and images used to create a 12-hour decades montage which supported the 2016 theme, “Dancing through the Decades”
• $40,473.01 raised (far surpassing the nonetheless impressive $18,173.13 donated in the debut last year)

Sweat work and legwork raised upward of $40,000 in February at BobcaThon, Ohio University’s second annual dance marathon benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio. Green and White faithful put their best foot forward for up to 12 hours for the Columbus site—which provides a home away from home for families getting treatment for their seriously ill or injured children—grooving to chart-topping pop songs spanning the decades such as “Rock around the Clock,” “Sweet Caroline,” and “I Want to Dance with Somebody.” Total donations more than doubled the $18,000-plus from the inaugural boogie in 2015.

“We were so ecstatic about our escalated numbers this year. Between doubling our dancers and surpassing our fundraising goal, we were overwhelmed by the success and growth that BobcaThon experienced in just 12 months,” said Kendra Lutes, BobcaThon president for 2016-17 and a senior communication studies major. “I’m excited to see what further momentum year three brings.”

The Central Ohio venue—offering 137 guest rooms in a facility measuring almost 120,000 square feet—is the largest Ronald McDonald House of its kind in the world, out of 356 counterparts. The haven served 112 families and 340 individuals from Athens County last year, hosting them for 814 nights at a cost of $81,400. For context, it welcomes more than 4,500 families for more than 35,000 nights annually, with assistance from 6,000 volunteers supplying more than 86,000 hours of outreach.

“Bobcats have huge hearts, and we’re honored that students and alumni pitch in to such a worthy cause, especially since Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio relies on contributions for the vast majority of its budget, and directly benefits families here in Athens,” added Katrina Heilmeier, MED ’14, associate director, campus relations, OHIO Alumni Association, and one of the staff liaisons to BobcaThon.