Dance Marathon Wins Charity Game

The UNC Dance Marathon survived a full day of fund raising Saturday by calling supporters to raise more money -- $5,617 -- than nine other area charities.

In a game similar to CBS' "Survivor," 10 area charities competed with each other at Performance Chevrolet, 1810 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., to raise the most money and win a big-screen television.

Contestants representing each of the 10 charities frantically called and pleaded with residents on the phone to pledge money for their respective charities.

At the end of each hour between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., the charity with the least amount of money was eliminated from the game, said Jill Farrell, marketing director for Performance Chevrolet.

"We've had people coming by all day to help the charities," she said. "We've had a tremendous response from the community."

Farrell said Performance organized the event after hearing about the tremendous needs of area charities.

"We had a stack of charities requesting donations from us," she said. "We invited eight of them and then called two more to participate in this event."

Casey Copp, the representative of the Red Cross, said the Red Cross would use the money from its second-place finish for victims of fires in the community.

"I've been working hard all morning raising money," Copp said. "Frankly, I'm tired."

Copp was not the only contestant rushing to call supporters to raise funds.

Chris Evans, representative of the UNC Dance Marathon and winner of the contest, said he chose to represent the marathon merely for name recognition.

"I would say about one percent of the people I've called actually gave money," he said. "But even with that we've raised a lot of money."

The Dance Marathon, which sponsors an annual dance marathon in February to benefit UNC Children's Hospital, will give its portion to patients who can't pay for all their needs, Evans said.

"It's a really good cause," Evans said. "The money is essentially used for clothes or anything that insurance doesn't cover."

The Orange County charities involved included the AIDS Community Residence, the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Special Olympics, the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill and the UNC Dance Marathon, Farrell said.

Other charities included the Durham charities Arise! Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the School of the Arts. The Triangle United Way also participated.

Suzanne Shoaf, a senior public relations major and one of many UNC students representing the Dance Marathon at the event, said Saturday's contest provided the marathon with a much-needed boost.

"It makes us feel so special to help people," she said. "I don't think you can find a better charity."

 

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.