Volume 3, Issue 2

September 2011

The mission of The UNC Dance Marathon is to unite the University, community and state in fostering emotional and financial support that improves the quality of life for the patients, families and staff of N.C. Childrens Hospital.

UPCOMING EVENTS

And every time I get tired, which I do, I think of that little girl.

through the last hours of the marathon Sept. 6-9 Committe Recruitment Week: Join a committee and help UNC-DM behind the scenes all year. Sign up in the Pit and send you ap- Grant Rant: Cinderella or Sedation plication to The Pediatric Sedation Excellence program prooverall@uncdm.org vides video goggles for patients who would othby 5 p.m. Friday.

~Kyle DeLappe, 2011 dancer, on pushing

Whats Up This Month

erwise need to be sedated during procedures.

Sept. 16 Theme Reveal: Find out the theme of the 2012 UNC Dance Marathon at Players from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Cover: $3 for 21 and up, $5 for under 21. Oct. 2 FestiFall: Join us for the towns largest arts festival on Franklin Street from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Photo by Molly Sutherland

See Page 2

Life cycle of a college fundraiser

Social Network Shenanigans

Each month we highlight comments from social media that excite or inspire us: @thealyssapatel Heard Mambo No 5 and thought of @UNCDM line dance 2011! @swimr4lifejrl @annabethblack @galencook @loveBKjoy #ftk

Carrie Dobbins, the Energizer Bunny of the 2012 Overall Committee, tells how UNC-DM has impacted every year of her college career.
See Page 2

Get a clue at Theme Reveal

And the theme for the 2012 marathon is...find out at Players. First-years, heres your chance; seniors, youll wanna skip Top O tonight.
See Page 3

For the Kids Story

David is a 16-year-old who is developmentally disabled and was diagnosed with a devastating chronic illness. Treating this illness would require many daily medications and frequent medical appointments at N.C. Childrens Hospital. His family had been homeless and was living with various family members prior to this diagnosis. The familys only car was impounded, leaving it with no transportation to properly care for David. The For the Kids Fund helped the family retrieve its vehicle from the impound lot, ultimately allowing David complete access to the specialized hospital care he needs.

UNC-DM Flashback:

Dancer Recruitment Week (DRW)

2010

Featuring: Taylor Scott, 2010 UNC-DM Overall Coordinator During DRW for UNC-DM 2010, Hurricane Ida was coming and there was really bad weather. I remember because we on the OC (overall committee) were worried because DRW is the week when we get all of the dancers to support the kids. Seeing so many of our committee members go outside, get crazy, be in the Pit, get dressed up and go across campus [to recruit dancers] seeing them going full-out despite the hurricane and witnessing us still reach our goal of 1,600 dancers [who were] willing to take a stand for the kids was an amazing moment. Despite the weather and nasty circumstances we still had all of that spirit for the kids.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, contact 2012 Publicity Chair Olivia Barrow at obarrow12@gmail.com.

September Newsletter

GRaNT RaNT: PEDIaTRIC SEDaTION ExCELLENCE PROGRaM

UNC Dance Marathon is sponsoring a change in the pediatric sedation process at N.C. Childrens Hospital. Rather than sedating a patient with medication that makes him or her sleepy or able to tolerate a procedure, doctors can now use an MRIcompatible video-goggle system, purchased by UNC-DM, to calm a child before a major procedure, an imaging study or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The N.C. Center for Clinical Excellence, a grant provided by UNC-DM for the second year, aims to improve family-centered care and more involve families in their childrens treatment. The Pediatric Sedation Excellence Program, part of this grant, intends to make sedation as safe as possible and in some cases decrease the need for the use of risky sedation medication. A committee of doctors, nurses and child specialists are working together to improve the sedation process for child patients. Often times there may be a 7-year-old child who has a brain tumor and we need to look at all of the details of his brain on a regular basis, says Dr. Tina Willis, the Centers co-director who is leading the committee in charge of improving pediatric sedation. The [MRI] machine is really noisy its scary, its claustrophobic and the child has to lay still for a minimum of 45 minutes. But, if he is old enough to be distracted by something, like virtual reality goggles where he can watch a Disney movie

2
Kaylee Baker

and get rid of the noisy sound, and his parents can talk to him through a microphone and calm him down, laying still becomes easier and fears diminish. The committee is in the process of developing other ideas to provide the highest quality of sedation possible, in addition to the virtual reality system. If you actually make something fun for kids, they wont be impacted as negatively, says Willis. We usually have to poke them with needles in order to put an IV in them and give them the proper medication before a procedure and if we can just inject them with movies, it will actually be a fun thing for the child.

LIFE CyCLE OF a COLLEGE FUNDRaISER

Kaylee Baker
You know, everyones hatin on first-years because theyre looking at maps, but theyre the future of our campus, said Carrie Dobbins, 2012 UNC-DM Fundraising Projects chair. Carrie used to carry a map. Hidden on the back of her biology 101 folder, she would subtly glance at it as she made the daily trudge from suite 404 in Hinton James to her lecture classes on north campus. She hid her map whenever possible. Four years later, she enters her last two semesters map-less at UNC-Chapel Hill, the University that is now a part of her. Now a senior, Carrie enters the beginning of the end of the cycle and, although she gets sentimentally sappy about her last-first this and that, she is ready to release her stored energy and take on one of the 14 principle leadership positions in the largest student fundraising organization in North Carolina. As a first-year, I was not really looking to build up in the organization. I would have never imagined myself in this position, Carrie said. But now, I realize the importance of dedicating your college career to UNC-DM. I have a better understanding of what the marathon means, the impact we make on the hospital and how awesome it is to stand for 24 hours. Im ready to put this knowledge to use. Back before she knew what came after Hark the sound, she began as a member of the Fundraising Projects committee. Its name implies its role: organizing various fundraisers, such as canning, when committee members collect donations during home football and basketball games; and letter push, when UNC-DM members seek donations by writing let-

Carrie Dobbins, the 2012 Fundraising Projects chair, shares her UNC-DM journey.

ters to friends, alumni, parents and community members. This is when Carrie got hooked inspired by the dedication of Taylor Scott, 2009 Fundraising Projects chair, Carrie knew at the end of her first year that she could not get enough UNCDM. Taylor was the start of me loving it. Task oriented and passionate, she brought the cause to every meeting.

September Newsletter

LIFE CyCLE, CONTINUED

She emphasized the relationships between committee members and most importantly, our relationship with the patients and families at N.C. Childrens Hospital. Now, four years later, Carrie is stepping into Taylors shoes. Shes proof that signing up for those 31 listservs at your first Fall Fest can result in encountering the most impacting part of your college career. The Journey Carrie gained something new from each year with UNC-DM. For both sophomore and junior years, Carrie served as a sub-chair on the Fundraising Projects committe. I love canning. Im one of the few people in the world who loves canning, she said. Now with hindsight 20/20, she commented on her sophomore year: My sophomore year allowed me to understand the hierarchy of the organization. Its a full year process; you cant start in November and expect to have everything done by February. Finally its Carries time to stand with a clipboard, a poster and a brain full of knowledge and sign up those wide-eyed first-years at Committee Recruitment Week. As a senior, I can see the bigger picture now, Carrie said. When youre a first-year, youre kind of tunnel-visioned a little bit. At the end of the tunnel, you see the larger goal and are able to think of ways to change the organization, make it more entertaining, make people stay at the marathon longer, and reach more kids. Chancey Rouse, the 2012 Hospital chair, has worked with Carrie from the beginning and says she is an asset to the Overall Committee. As a first-year, Carrie was the committee member who always came to meetings with a ton of enthusiasm and willingness to volunteer and help with anything, Chancey said. One of Carries main suggestions is

3
leaning on first-years. When I met them at Fall Fest, I said to myself, these are the people who are going to be running this same organization in the future. How are they going to make it bigger and better than what we have done? Zack Newbauer, a first-year living in Hinton James Residence Hall, just as Carrie did, believes this years first-year class has what it takes to take UNC-DM to the next level. Just being around my fellow firstyears in the past two weeks has shown me how ambitious we are, said Zack. With so many varying interests and specific skill sets, Im sure it will take just a short time to find those who will be able to give as much passion and dedication to this organization as those did in the past. The class of 2015 brings a lot to the table: excitement, diligence, and most importantly, a fresh set of eyes.

UNC-DM TO REVEaL 2012 ThEME

UNC Dance Marathon will host its annual Theme Reveal party at Players Sept. 16 from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., when the theme for the 2012 marathon will be revealed. Im really excited to set the tone of UNC-DM for the year with Theme Reveal, said Anna Beth Black, Campus Fundraising chair. Because the theme is incorporated into so many events before the marathon even begins, it is important that we give the theme its rightful moment in the spotlight. Past themes have included Treasure Island, Around the World and Outer Space. Because UNC-DM is a year-long fundraiser, the theme is utilized in programs starting six months before students dance among theme-coor-

Olivia Barrow

for all of the OC when I say how pumped I am to finally make the 2012 theme public, Black said. The dress code for the reveal party is white out so dig up your bleach and prepare to shine.
Photo by Molly Sutherland

dinated decorations during the 24hour marathon. Last year campus a cappella groups performed at Theme Reveal for the first time. This year the Loreleis, the Achordants and Tar Heel Voices will be performing for the eager students and community members awaiting the theme announcement at the end of the night. I am excited that so many wonderful a cappella groups have agreed to perform for us, and I know I speak

Next Issue
Tired of the generic design of our summer newsletter issues? Stay tuned as we revamp the style to match the 2012 theme starting in our October issue.

Also included: Grant Rant Pediatric Palliative Care Program