UMass Virtual Dance Marathon A Success
The University Of Massachusetts For The Kids (FTK) UDance marked a milestone in 2020, raising $215,050.00 for Baystate Children’s Hospital with a virtual event on May 2nd. Originally scheduled for April 18th at the Mullins Center, the incredible Executive Team under the leadership of UMass FTK President Madison Baramy and Michael Wiseman, Associate Director, Student Engagement and Leadership/Fraternities & Sororities, made the decision to proceed with their commitment to Baystate Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Miracle Network. “In the 1990’s The Dance Marathon and FTK was a dream, in 2005 it was born, it grew up in the 20-teens and now in 2020 it is virtual,” said Michael Wiseman. From the March 16th decision by the University to suspend on campus activities, the team spent countless hours on Zoom calls and Facetime chats exploring alternatives and planning a virtual fundraising experience with the help of Baystate Health Foundation’s Mia Gorecki and CMN’s Northeast Dance Marathon Manager, Andrew Nash. By the first week of May, they had created ten hours’ worth of video content to engage students and raise money. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. donors could join in the fun with student D.J.s, socially distant dancers, messages from University and Baystate leaders, patients and their families, along with many other creative and inspirational opportunities.
In addition to President, Madison Barany, other members of the all-female UMass FTK Executive Team include: Alexis Kay, Emma Lopez-Mastropietro, Mackenzie Sideleau, Rachel Gullotti, Hayley Solomon, Mikayla Coffeen-Vandeven and Isabella Caruso. Many members of the Executive Team are graduating seniors, and FTK UDance 2020 will certainly be a great memory for them, while being a great benefit to the work of Baystate Children’s Hospital. We are SO grateful to these compassionate and altruistic young people for helping to make Baystate Children’s Hospital state of the art!
This article originally appeared in the Baystate Children’s Hospital “News Now” Newsletter