UNC dances all day, night as charity for hospital

CHAPEL HILL -- Katie Barbee had not had a wink of sleep in more than 24 hours. Her feet ached, and what she really wanted to do was stretch her legs across her bed.

But Barbee, a UNC-Chapel Hill junior from High Point, was among the 2,000 students in Fetzer Gym standing for a cause.

And she was not about to let a little discomfort sideline her from the 2012 UNC Dance Marathon, the last 24 hours of an annual fundraising project to support the patients and families at the N.C. Children's Hospital.

"I've never done anything so strenuous," Barbee said late Saturday afternoon with about three-and-a-half hours to go in the 24-hour event. "But it's really rewarding. It's really nice to be able to stand up so long for kids that can't."

As color lights flashed in the darkened gym, an assortment of music pulsed from speakers. The marathon session began at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and throughout the next 24 hours, there were live performances for the dancers, lots of food and activities.

The first dance marathon was held in 1999, when 100 dancers raised $40,000 for the cause. Since then, the event has raised more than $2.8 million. Last year, the 1,600 dancers raised $436,709. This year, they raised $483,210.

The N.C. Children's Hospital cares for seriously ill or injured children who need complex care.

More than 70,000 children from all 100 North Carolina counties come to the hospital in Chapel Hill, resulting in more than 200,000 visits each year to the hospital campus for diagnosis and treatment.

Each marathon dancer must raise at least $150 to participate in the event.

Though many were weary of body late Saturday afternoon, their spirits were buoyed by this year's theme: "Mission Possible."

"I wanted to quit in the middle," said a fatigued Shakeila Jones, a junior from Raleigh. "But it's for the kids."

The kids, such as Scott, a 5-year-old who mysteriously stopped growing when he was 2, or Darren, a 15-year-old with kidney disease who's been to the hospital many times, are the ones, the dancers maintain, enduring the real marathon.

Sean Xing, a UNC-CH senior majoring in biology and French, participated in the dance marathon this year because he did not want to graduate without going through the experience. The beginning is fun, the dancers all with spring in their step. The middle is difficult, he said, but the end gave him a sense of taking part in something big.

Xing's feet hurt, he said, but "it pales in comparison to what the children in the hospital go through every day."

Meg Peters, a senior majoring in nutrition, and her cousin Becca Brenner, a 2011 UNC-CH graduate who came back after being a four-time marathoner, said they learned a few new moves - the line dance and the "wobble-with-it."

The experience has its levity, they said.

But the final hour, when the children and families get on stage and tell their stories, the tired dancers can be overwhelmed by emotion.

"Everyone's just sobbing," Brenner said.

But they leave with smiles, too.

"Its cool," Brenner said. "This can be a lot of fun and goofy. But at the end of the day, it's for the kids."