ElonTHON team aims to raise $15,000 in a day

A student-run 24-hour dance marathon benefitting the Children’s Miracle Network and Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center takes place from April 10-11, 2015, and in the lead-up to the event, organizers planned several events for Tuesday to help raise money for the charity.

ElonTHON leaders hope to raise $15,000 in one day on Tuesday in the lead-up to the student organization’s weekend dance marathon in support of the Children’s Miracle Network and Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center.

Various “#15KinaDay” events are planned throughout the day on April 7, 2015, to help students and donors connect with the event and the cause.

At College Coffee, people can pay $5 to pie a member of ElonTHON’s executive board in the face, as well as speak to the ElonTHON directors and some of the young patients helped by the Children’s Miracle Network.

In Moseley Center’s Room 120 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., students can also write notes to the upcoming weekend’s ElonTHON dancers who will receive the messages during the dance marathon. Also, ElonTHON volunteers will hand out ice cream at Speaker’s Corner from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. to anyone who has donated to the cause.

Donors can give money online at www.elonthon.org or via Venmo. ElonTHON’s Venmo account name is “Elonthon FTK.”

An annual event started on campus in 2003, ElonTHON runs this spring from 6 p.m on April 10 through 6 p.m. on April 11. The organization last year raised more than $176,000.

Organizers said the spirit of the event is about much more than money. According to Elon University senior Conor Janda, ElonTHON’s director of marketing, it is about standing in support of children.

“The fundraising total represents so much more than the amount of money we raised,” Janda said. “It represents the number of people who came together to help out the incredible kids at Duke. ElonTHON is an opportunity for the entire Elon community to come together for the kids.”