The Riley Dance-a-Thon is an annual fundraising event for Riley Hospital for Children that helps fund cancer research throughout their hospitals. College and high school students across Indiana raise millions of dollars yearly, and in total have raised over $70 million since 1991.

The NC Dance-a-Thon is hosted by National Honor Society and is student-led by a group of seniors.

“We have five committee chair seniors who all participate to help in the planning of the event such as food, marketing on Instagram, meetings and more,” NHS Riley committee member Kyla Morris said.

To participate in the Dance-a-Thon, groups of 8-12 students must sign up and create a team. The event is open to the public, anyone can attend.

Students can visit the NC Dance-A-Thon Instagram page where there is a link to sign up and further instructions for creating a team. Teams must choose a theme to dress up as during the event.

“Students should participate because not only are you raising awareness for Riley and supporting the community, you get to dance and have fun with fellow students and there are chances to win prizes,” Morris said.

The event includes music, games, raffles, food, continued fundraising and dancing.

“This will be my second year participating in the Dance-a-Thon and it is such a fun and rewarding experience,” Morris said.

Last year, the Dance-a-Thon raised $44,308, and the committee hopes to raise more this year, with a goal of $75,000.

For many students, participating in the event is something they look forward to all year.

“I love participating because I am big on fundraising, especially for Riley Children’s Hospital because of their work and help for kids all over,” Morris said, “I also enjoy spending time with my friends and getting to dress up to dance.”

The Dance-a-Thon is scheduled for the evening of Friday, March 1 in the main gym.