Ball State Dance Marathon

Dance Marathon is hosted by Riley Hospital that creates a year-long fundraising and awareness event in support of children and families at "Riley Hospital for Children", this event unifies the student body of Ball State every year with numerous organizations participating in their annual Dance Marathon event on February 19th in the Ball State Recreational Center, where participants stand for 13.1 hours straight for those who are unable to. The Theta Alpha chapter participated and paired with the Delta Zeta Sorority for the entire night. Every participating organization receives a Riley kid who they are fortunate enough to hang out with for the entire day. Our chapter’s Riley kid Dane Farlee, an 8th grader who was born with critical aortic stenosis, a very serious valve disease that restricts the blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta. He had his very first operation when he was only 9 days old, and had two more operations before the age of 4. He inspired our brothers with his very positive attitude, outgoing personality, and his respectfulness. As of today, his heart is doing great and he can play his favorite sport baseball without any restrictions physically. Alpha Tau Omega raised $3585 dollars, and as a university we raised over $653,000 dollars for Riley Hospital for Children.