Whole Hearted

Six years ago, I was a freshman in college. (Drops dead from realization of getting old)

On a Friday in April of 2006, one of my very best friends had a dream come true. She, with the help of a bunch of other freshmen who had no clue what we were doing, founded the Dance Marathon at our school (Saint Mary's College).


Dance Marathon is a philanthropic organization by and for college students to raise money for Children's Miracle Network. It hit close to home for me because I was a patient at our local CMN hospital - Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

I was born with a hole in my heart. It wasn't detected until my checkup at a couple days old. I was sent from my doctor's office to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, the only place in the state that had a a cardiac unit devoted specifically to children.

It ended up that I was just fine. A tiny baby with a broken heart, but essentially fine. I will never forget my yearly visits to Riley - me, an essentially healthy child, in a hospital with children who were definitely not fine. I'll never forget my mom crying in the car once on the way home.

"Mom, why are you crying?"

"You won't understand."

Pouts and glares from preteen Sarah.

"Ok, fine. I'm crying because you're ok. Because you're just fine and all those kids back there, the ones attached to wagons and IV drips and hospital beds - they don't get to leave. They're sick and you're well. It's just a lot to be thankful for."

Fast forward to college.

We were a bunch of girls with a dream... and basically, there was no one to tell us no. A bunch of girls with canning buckets and no free time raised $21,000 for Riley Hospital in a year.

Month by month we added to our fundraising ideas. We sent thousands of letters to friends and family across the United States asking for money. I sealed at least a thousand letters myself.

We met lots of families, too. Families whose lives were forever changed by the amazing doctors at Riley.
Year by year we raised more money and were touched by the stories of more families. In the game of life, I felt like I'd won the lottery.

You see, I came into the world with a broken heart. A heart that wasn't whole.

Dance Marathon gave me the opportunity to give back in a way that I had never really understood before. The chance to give away pieces of my heart to help give kids healthy tomorrows.

This weekend is the 6th Annual Dance Marathon at Saint Mary's College. It will be completely surreal to me to see what was once only a dream continue to be a living, breathing organization. A life force all its own.

Katie was once a committee member on my Public Relations committee, way back when I was a sophomore in college. Now she's the President of what I believe might turn out to be the biggest Marathon to date. Two years ago I was in her shoes... and right now is probably the most nerve-wracking few hours of her life. The stress before everything goes into motion.

Katie, I am so incredibly proud of you for taking hold of the Marathon and keeping it alive in the way we intended for it way back in 2006.

Full of hearts, broken and unbroken.
FTK. (For the Kids.)

That's where I'll be this weekend. Taking a stand for those who can't.

(And if you feel so inclined to donate, click here.)

Any other Dance Marathoners out there??