Volume 5, Issue 2

September 2013

The mission of UNC Dance Marathon is to overcome childhood illness by providing major support for the medical, surgical and emotional care of the patients and families served by North Carolina Childrens Hospital.

Upcoming Events

In This Issue

#UNCDMWorldwide Winner
See the winning picture and finalists of our summer social media contest!

Sept. 3-6 - Committee Recruitment Week Join a committee and help UNC-DM behind the scenes all year. Sign up in the Pit and submit your application by 5 p.m. Friday. Questions? Email executivedirector@ uncdm.org. Sept. 21 - Culture on the Lawn with BSM Come to SASB plaza to watch some student performances and get to know members of BSM and UNC-DM! More details will be announced on our blog. Sept. 26 - Theme Reveal Join us at Players at 10 p.m. for a rave featuring DJ EPZ. The 2014 marathon theme will be revealed at midnight! Nov. 2 - 5K FTK Mark your calendars for the second annual UNC-DM 5K FTK!

Page 2

New Online Store

Learn about a new fast and easy way to purchase UNC-DM merchandise!
Page 3

Grant Rant

Photo by Amelia Ward

Each month, we will feature a grant supported by UNC-DM at N.C. Childrens Hospital. This month, learn about the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit grant.
Page 4

Theme Reveal

We cant help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

- Ronald Reagan

The 2014 UNC-DM theme will be announced Sept. 26 at Players this is an event you do not want to miss.

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Follow us!

Visit us online!
www.uncmarathon.org

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, please contact 2014 Publicity Chair Renee Montpetit, at publicity@uncdm.org.

September Newsletter | 2

#UNCDMWorldwide
This summer UNC Dance Marathon went global! Photos were submitted by UNC-DM supporters sporting UNC-DM gear all over the world. And the winner is...Meagan Barger! Last year she was involved with UNC-DM as an Outreach committee member and a dancer. Her photo is from the Harry Potter castle at Universal Studios Island of Adventure Park. Simply being a finalist is so cool because I know that as the picture is shared and liked by friends and family back home, I am spreading the world about UNC Dance Marathon. Winning would be fantastic because it combines three of my favorite things UNC Dance Marathon, Harry Potter and free stuff, she said. Congratulations Meagan and thank you to everyone who submitted photos! Below are the other finalists:

Meagan Barger

Peter Carter

Shannon Moyer

Landon Sherwood

Kavon Javaherian

41

Scotland

Bonnaroo New Orleans

Portugal
Punta Cana

submissions

Kentucky
China

Chapel Hill

34
locations

10
countries

Disney World Spain

Hawaii Nicaragua

Social Media Spotlight

UNC Dance Marathon
@UNCDM

September Newsletter | 3
Following
1,935 TWEETS 898 FOLLOWING 1,931 FOLLOWERS

UNC Dance Marathon is the largest student-run fundraiser at UNC-Chapel Hill. Our efforts benefit the patients and families at N.C. Childrens Hospital.
Chapel Hill, N.C. - http://www.uncmarathon.org

Interactions
RMH Chapel Hill @RMHChapel Hill We love @UNCDM, they provide meals twice a week fo our Family Room at @ncchildrens
1:01 PM - 8 Aug 13

Erin Graham @eeeering Whenever Yeah comes on the radio I cant help but sing along to the words of last years line dance @UNCDM #FTK
7:49 AM - 18 Jul 13

Carrie @carrieberry8102 @UNCDM I am going to be a Kid Co-Captain again this year! Yay!
12:49 PM - 27 Jul 13

Liz Goslin @lizgoslin #FactFriday from April 12- 13, the @UNCDM For the Kids Fund was used to help over 1,300 North Carolina families.
1:01 PM - 8 Aug 13

New Online Store

Thanks to UNC-DMs new online store, buying merchandise is much easier than in the past. The online store has been considered for a few years, according to Brendan Leonard, 2014 Fundraising Projects Chair. We tried to implement a new system last year, but didnt have the time and resources to execute it as we had hoped, said Leonard. This year, however, with the growing popularity of merchandise, we really decided it was time to switch to a new system. UNC-DM has previously used the company Square and its corresponding app to accept payments for merchandise. However, it was inefficient. Our old system didnt have a way to process payments, so we would have to either wait for them to send a check or call them and process their credit card through the Square app, said Leonard. When the same company this summer introduced Square Market, a website for businesses to set up online stores, Leonard believed it was perfect timing to create one. He hopes to use it this year for merchandise pushes for committee members and dancers. It will really make our lives much easier when we have tons of orders coming in at one time around the marathon and having fewer things to keep track of, while hopefully increasing our total amount of sales, said Leonard. Not only can anyone order from the store, but the merchandise can also be shipped anywhere. It is really cool to think that people can order UNC-DM merchandise anywhere in the country now, said Liz Goslin, 2014 Executive Director. However, for local orders it will generally be easier to pick it up on campus. Executive Board members and committee sub-chairs have already used the store to buy shirts for Committee Recruitment Week Sept. 3-6, and more merchandise is available online.

&

Check it out!
Visit the Store tab on our site,

www.uncmarathon.org

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Grant Rant: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

In the Summer 2013 newsletter, UNC-DM announced its decision to support a grant in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at N.C. Childrens Hospital. This grant will help patients and their families in this unit in regards to comfort and communication. PICU consists of 20 rooms for patients with a variety of medical illnesses. Sometimes family members are not able to make it to the hospital to listen to important discussions with the medical team. It is also very hard for patients and their families to remember all of the information said during these meetings. Digital recorders resolve this issue because they are able to listen to these conversations at a later time. With the funds from UNCDM, two digital recorders will be purchased. The PICU is a very busy place so it can be hard for patients to rest with all of the noises and interruptions. Noise machines help patients sleep better so that they can recover from their illnesses. With the funds from UNC-DM, noise machines will be purchased for half of the unit. Sometimes patients are not able to use their voice because of medical reasons. Dry erase boards allow them to communicate with family members and doctors. With the funds from UNC-DM, dry erase boards will be purchased for half of the unit. This grant is true to the cause of UNC-DM.

The PICU grant is so important because it makes the mission of UNC-DM come to life.
Candace Gentry, 2014 Hospital Chair, said,Grants like this one help improve the lives of the patients and families at N.C. Childrens Hospital on so many levels, including those that might be typically overlooked.

New Mission Statement

UNC Dance Marathon recently changed its mission statement in order for it be more representative of its cause. Heres a breakdown of what it means:
north carolina
childrens hospital

OUR PURPOSE
to overcome childhood illness the patients and families

north carolina childrens hospital

where we help

who we help

The mission of UNC Dance Marathon is to overcome childhood illness by providing major support for the medical, surgical and emotional care of the patients and families served by North Carolina Childrens Hospital.

by providing major support

how we do it

MEMORY BOOK

support medical, surgical & emotional care

What we do

And the 2014 UNC-DM Theme Is...

The wait is almost over. On September 26, the Executive Board will reveal the 2014 UNC-DM theme. The event will take place at Players with a white out rave featuring DJ EPZ beginning at 10 p.m. The DJ, Eddie Patch, was on the Operations committee this past school year. He also DJed at several events last year, including part of the marathon. Patch said he is excited to be performing at another UNC-DM event. Dance Marathon is one of those things you hear about so much but is never put into perspective until you are a part of it, said Patch. People should come to theme reveal for the energy and genuine excitement of the people participating in it. Its a great time for everyone involved and an extremely exciting time for UNC-DM as a whole. The reveal is one of the first big UNC-DM events of the year. It is a great opportunity for committee members to hang out and meet each other and get pumped for the year ahead. And, of course, people should come to find out what our theme for the year is, said Liz Goslin, 2014 Executive Director. The theme has been kept a secret by the 2014 Executive Board since

September Newsletter | 5

they voted on the theme last April. Mary Morris, 2014 Entertainment Chair, said it has been very hard to keep the theme a secret.

For the Kids Story

Stephanie is a 16-year-old with a life-threatening chronic illness that affects multiple organ systems. She was admitted to the hospital for a 3-week stay for intensive treatment. She lives about 1 hours from UNC with her devoted parents and four siblings two of whom have the same chronic illness and one who has another physical disability. The unexpected admission made the familys already difficult financial situation that much worse. In having to pay for parking, gas and extra food while staying in the hospital, they were worried that would not be able to pay for their already delinquent electric bill. Through the UNC Dance Marathon For the Kids fund, the family was able to receive some assistance with their electricity bill and were able to provide the support their daughter needed during her lengthy stay.

Ive had to call people on the Executive Board and tell them if I want to tell someone - theyre always great and act surprised though, said Morris.
Brendan Leonard, 2014 Fundraising Projects Chair, said keeping the theme a secret has actually not been as hard as he was expecting it to be. Its really helpful to have 13 other people to turn to who are just as excited about it as I am and be able to use them to get some of the excitement out, whether its showing them a merchandise design I came up with that relates to the theme or deciding on our costumes for theme reveal, said Leonard. Another helpful thing we have is our absurdly fake themes which we tell people who ask so we dont give any hints away at all as to what it actually is, including notable architecture of the 20th century, One Direction, and trees.

Be there!

Thursday, September 26 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Players on Franklin Street Reveal at midnight

Be sure to check back next month for Octobers newsletter featuring a redesigned layout based on our new theme!

Thank you to our presenting partner, Coastal Federal Credit Union, for their continued support For the Kids!