Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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. Children’s Hospital.
see page 4
During the 18th cen-
tury, dancing masters
UNC-DM to expand 5th For the Kids Story
traveled from village to
village in Ireland. Wear-
annual golf tournament Helen is a 14-month-old
child who came to the
She had had a new job
for one week, and had
The Homecoming Golf Classic provides a way for alumni
ing bright and flam- hospital with a foreign earned one day of sick
and community members to get involved in UNC-DM. body that needed to be leave.
boyant clothing, they
would teach peasants see pages 4-5 removed from her stom- After already missing six
to dance. Many of these ach. days of work, she was
peasants did not know The foreign body turned concerned about the
their right feet from Presence in the Hospital out to be an earplug. missed income as well as
their left, so the mas- She continued to have job security.
ters would tie hay to We held three Parents’ Night Out dinners, digestive problems and Assistance with the cost
one of their unexpectedly needed to of food in the hospital
hosted one social, had Healthy Steps every have an extended admis-
feet and from the For the Kids
week and held one Pediatric Playroom. We sion to evaluate those is- Fund alleviated some
would in-
also installed Dance Dance Revolution in sues. of the stress associated
struct them
to “lift hay
the waiting room for UNC-DM volunteers to Helen’s single-parent with her daughter’s hos-
foot.” bring out to play with patients. mother stayed with her. pitalization.
October Newsletter
Kid Co-Captains inspire dancers and committees year-round
By Victoria Cook the energy that was present in “So many students take a stand
Fetzer Gym. ‘For the Kids’ but this was a way
Asheton Ayotte is an energetic, to give a specific name, face and
soon to be 9-year-old girl who en- “What Dance Marathon does in story to the difference that each
joys jumping on her pogo stick, terms of supporting the entire Chil- UNC student was making in the
playing the piano and listening to dren’s Hospital is beyond words,” lives of families at the hospital,”
the Beatles. She is fun-loving and Matt said. “You’re supporting clini- she wrote in an e-mail.
her energy automatically lights up cal care initiatives [and] the re-
any room she enters. search that the clinicians are then Asheton was a kid co-captain at
taking to the bedside of these in- last year’s marathon and will be
You’d never guess she is a miracle credibly sick and clinically chal- joining a team again this February.
child. lenged kids.” She said that last year’s marathon
was a lot of fun and that she’s look-
Tiana Ayotte gave birth to Asheton “It’s so meaningful, and yet at the ing forward to doing it again.
when she was only 25 weeks preg- same time it’s so noble that you
nant. Asheton was born weighing 1 guys are involved in something The presence of these former
pound and 14 ounces. that you haven’t necessarily used patients at the Marathon gives
yet. And you hope you never do.” the dancers the added boost to
For 15 weeks, she remained in push through the times when it’s
the neo-natal intensive care unit In 2010 UNC-DM introduced kid co- the hardest to keep going, wrote
of N.C. Children’s Hospital where captains who had been patients at James Howard, captain of one of
her father said they measured her N.C. Children’s Hospital. the teams Asheton co-captained
progress by how many grams she last year, in an e-mail.
gained. The organization wanted to create
a stronger connection between the “The kids are success stories prov-
“We solely attribute her success to hospital, the dancers and the fami- ing that Dance Marathon makes a
being at N.C. Children’s Hospital, lies that are being supported, said difference, changing lives for the
without a doubt,” said Asheton’s Taylor Scott, overall coordinator in better.”
father, Matt. “If she had been any- 2010.
where else, I absolutely believe
she would not have done as well as
she’s done.”
Next issue:
Be sure to check out these stories in our
November issue — Grant Spotlight: Center
for Clinical Excellence, Dancer Profile
If you have any questions, comments or concerns
contact 2011 Publicity Chair Rebecca Brenner at
rbrenner@email.unc.edu