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Student-run philanthropy event has raised $6.58 million for pediatric cancer patients and research at the Markey Cancer Center

By Robin Roenker

DanceBlue:

A decade of dancing

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When 800-plus students take to thefloor of Memorial Coliseum on

Valentine’s Day for DanceBlue 2015,they’ll be marking the 10th anniversaryof what has become the largest student-run philanthropy event in the Southeast-ern Conference.

The event’s success is staggering. Injust nine years, DanceBlue — the an-nual, 24-hour no sitting, no sleepingdance marathon — has become a vitaland universally-loved part of the Uni-versity of Kentucky undergraduate ex-perience. It has fostered lifelongfriendships between UK students andpediatric cancer patients and theirfamilies. Perhaps most tangibly of all,it has raised more than $6.58 millionto support research and patient care atUK’s DanceBlue Kentucky Children’sHospital Pediatric Hematology/On-cology Clinic and at the Markey Can-cer Center.

“I have been overwhelmed by Dance-Blue’s impressive growth year aer year,”says Dr. Lars Wagner ’91 MED, chief ofpediatric hematology and oncologywithin the Kentucky Children’s Hospi-tal. “When I came here two years ago,one of the pieces about this job that at-tracted me the most was the remarkablelevel of community support that existsfor the pediatric oncology program here,thanks to efforts like DanceBlue.”

Funds from DanceBlue are distributedto the DanceBlue KCH Pediatric Oncol-ogy/Hematology Clinic to support bothbasic and clinical research on childhoodcancers, as well as to help fund areas ofneed for the pediatric patients and their

families — including everything from gascards and food vouchers to temporaryhousing for patients traveling from faraway. Matching money from the KentuckyCigarette Excise tax supports cancer re-search at the UK Markey Cancer Center.

DanceBlue proceeds are overseen andcollected through the group’s GoldenMatrix Fund, an account in the UKDepartment of Pediatrics. The moneycurrently supports the salaries for achild life specialist, who works with pa-tients on play therapy and coping strate-gies to make potentially scarytreatments easier to handle, and aschool intervention specialist, whoserves as an advocate for patients as theytransition back to their schools follow-ing treatment. Other patient services,such as neuropsychology testing, whichare important but not always covered by

health insurance, are also fundedthrough DanceBlue, Wagner says.

Additionally, DanceBlue funds supportthe clinic’s “Beads for Courage” program,which awards patients beads aer eachstage of their treatment — whether sur-gery, chemotherapy, or radiation — andgives out medals when their treatmentsare completed. “at’s a low-cost, high-impact thing,” says Wagner. “But all thekids love it. It’s a tangible marker of theirtreatment and how far they’ve come.”

On a larger scale, in 2012, DanceBluemade a four-year, $1 million pledge tohelp renovate and expand the UK Pedi-atric Hematology and Oncology Clinic.As a result, the clinic was renamed theDanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospi-tal Hematology/Oncology Clinic.

While all of these successes are re-markable, what makes UK Sr. Directorof Fundraising Programs Susannah De-nomme ’78 AS, ’83 CI and pediatriccancer support advocate Jennifer Myn-ear ’79 ’83 ED — the two women whofirst brought the idea of a dancemarathon to campus 10 years ago —proudest of all is the way that Dance-Blue is helping foster a generation ofUK philanthropists and leaders.

“We both knew from the very begin-ning that students had to be in charge ofeverything,” says Denomme. “It couldnot be staff led. We wanted students tobuild it. From day one, it became some-thing that they owned. at has been thekey to DanceBlue’s success.”

Jarrett Mynear earned the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, honoring youngpeople for their volunteer service.

The first DanceBlue marathon raised more than $123,000.

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Finding inspiration For Jennifer Mynear, DanceBlue repre-

sents another lasting legacy for her son, Jar-rett, who died in October 2002 at age 13,aer a long battle with cancer. He hadstarted the hugely-successful Jarrett’s JoyCart, which is still ongoing, to provide newtoys to children during their hospital stays.

Aer her son’s passing, Mynear and herhusband Doug Mynear ’75 ’77 ENwanted to find another way to honor Jar-rett’s dedication to helping others. Shemet with Denomme, then-developmentdirector for UK College of Medicine, andthe Jarrett Mynear Fund was created witha goal of raising money to renovate UK’spediatric hematology and oncology clinic.e fund ultimately raised $370,000, farbeyond their expectations, and with addi-tional fundraising by the Kentucky Chil-dren’s Hospital, the clinic was revampedand rededicated in April 2004.

Mynear, whom Denomme calls a “tire-less crusader,” wanted to do more. De-nomme’s daughter, Carolyn, then asophomore at Pennsylvania State Uni-versity, told her about THON, PennState’s annual 48-hour dance marathonto support pediatric cancer patients.

e pair thought the timing was rightto bring a similar idea to UK’s campus.In 2004 through 2005, they began hold-ing informational meetings with key stu-dent leadership groups to scope outstudent interest.

“Aer each of those meetings, we wouldhave two or three students come up to usaerward, and tell us that they wanted tobe a part of this,” Denomme recalls.

en-UK junior Emily Pfeifer ’06 BEwas one of those students. When sheheard Jennifer and Susannah’s presenta-tion in fall 2004, Pfeifer had just success-fully undergone treatment for thyroidcancer and learned that her father, FredPfeifer ’81 EN was battling lung cancer.

“Aer I heard their presentation, I gotup and chased Jennifer and Susannahdown the hall,” says Pfeifer, who went onto serve on the DanceBlue steering com-mittee and as DanceBlue’s first overallchairwoman in 2005-2006. “Jarrett’s last-ing message of finding strength in yourselfby giving to others resonates with so manypeople. It certainly resonated with me. Itold them, ‘I am meant to help you withthis. I think we can do something great.’”

Empowering students“e best thing about DanceBlue is

that it is completely student run. It

would never have worked otherwise,”says Mynear, who named DanceBlue’sGolden Matrix Fund in honor of Jarrett.(Gold is both the color associated withchildhood cancer support and was alsoJarrett’s favorite color. “e Matrix” washis favorite movie and the term also con-notes parts coming together to form agreater whole.)

All parts coming together for thegreater good — that’s precisely whatDanceBlue has done for the UK commu-nity. Each year, all 600-plus registered stu-dent organizations are invited toparticipate. Last year, more than 100 stu-dent groups were represented.

At the first DanceBlue marathon,roughly 175 dancers participated, raisingover $123,000. Now, the event annuallymaxes out the building capacity of Me-morial Coliseum, with 800-plus dancerson the floor and an arena of supportersfilling the stands to cheer them on.

Every hour on the hour during themarathon, DanceBlue dancers join in asynchronized line dance, with chants of“FTK” (“For e Kids”) to keep themmotivated. Toward the end of themarathon, a talent show featuring pa-tients at the pediatric oncology clinicand a memorial to those who have beenlost help keep the focus on the families.

During the first DanceBlue talent show,a young cancer patient sang “You RaiseMe Up” and there was not a dry eye in theplace, recalls Pfeifer, who now works withSalient, an asset management firm inHouston, Texas. “You looked around,and you realized, everyone was so com-

From left, Jarrett’s mother Jennifer Mynear, the first DanceBlue ChairwomanEmily Pfeifer and then-UK College of Medicine Director of Development Susannah Denomme were elated at DanceBlue’s success.

DanceBlue 2005 had roughly 175 dancers; DanceBlue 2014 maxed at 800-plus.

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20 Winter 2014

mitted to this cause,” she says. “at, forme, was the moment when I knew wewere on to something that was going to bea lasting part of the UK experience.”

Now, like attending football and bas-ketball games, involvement withDanceBlue in one fashion or another issynonymous with life as a UK under-graduate. A billboard promotingDanceBlue hangs at Blue Grass Air-port. On College Game Day, coverageof UK always includes mention ofDanceBlue.

For New York-based designer Am-berlee Isabella ’07 DES, who served asDanceBlue’s second overall chair-woman in 2007, watching DanceBlueevolve into a not-to-be-missed part ofthe UK experience has been a thrill.“To see how it has become part ofUK’s culture is something that I’m in-credibly proud of,” she says. “Friendssometimes ask me, when I go back toattend the marathons, ‘Aren’t youupset that the students now don’tknow your name?’ And I say, ‘Are youkidding me? It’s not about our names.It’s about DanceBlue, which is so muchbigger than any of us.’”

e emotional power of the 24-hourmarathon is impossible to describe, andit represents the culmination of a year’sworth of work by an army of volunteers,says Jonathan York, DanceBlue’s 2015overall chairman.

is year’s event will be pulled to-gether by over 145 committee memberswho will organize and lead every aspect

of the event programming, from plan-ning the hour-by-hour activities thatdancers will take part in to corporate re-lations work soliciting donations fromarea businesses. “We like to say we’reworking 365 days a year for the kids. emarathon is a celebration of that year-round work,” York says.

People routinely tell Denomme thatthey never could have imagined howmoving the marathon is, until they see itfor the first time themselves.

“Sororities and fraternities are dancingalongside the Robinson Scholars and theHonors Program,” says Denomme. “Itbrings the entire campus together. Invari-

ably, on their evaluations aer the event,students will say this is the best thingthey’ve ever done in their life. ey maysign up initially because it’s fun. But goingthrough the marathon changes them. Itteaches them about philanthropy. Itteaches them about giving back to thelarger community. And, it teaches themhow to take on and excel in an array ofleadership roles.”

Life-changing for studentsDanceBlue 2013 marked the first

time the marathon broke the $1 mil-lion, single-year fundraising mark. Themoment that the extra “1” was unveiledin the total tally was one that Dance-Blue 2013 chairman Ethan Ritter willnever forget.

“at will be one of my favorite memo-ries for the rest of my life. It was just anamazing feeling,” says Ritter ’13 AFE, whois now attending medical school at UK.

(Last year, DanceBlue upped the anteeven more, bringing in $1.436 million in2014.)

Like many of the students who’ve beeninvolved with DanceBlue, Ritter says theevent changed him. “DanceBlue showedme the incredible impact a communitycan have when united for one cause. Ithink that I’ll carry that same sense of re-sponsibility for advocacy with me as Ibecome a physician,” he says.The slogan ‘For The Kids’ — FTK — keeps the students energized.

UK President Eli Capilouto playfully joined DanceBlue 2014 teams.

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Serving as the family relations chair-woman for the first DanceBlue helpedShelby Dehner ’06 SW find her profes-sional calling. After college, Dehnerworked for three years as a pediatriconcology social worker at UK and isnow the executive director of KidsCancer Alliance, a nonprofit that offerscamps and other programs for child-hood cancer patients.

Lexington attorney Preston Worley ’07AS, ’10 LAW stays actively involved todaywith DanceBlue as chairman of theGolden Matrix Fund Advisory Council.“e years I spent with DanceBlue wereabsolutely the best thing I did during mytime on campus, and one of the betterthings I’ve done in my life,” he says.

And for Erin Priddy Wright ’09 AS,now in a surgery residency at the Univer-sity of Louisville School of Medicine,DanceBlue led to a rather surprising out-come — marriage. Priddy met her hus-band, Joey Wright ’08 EN, ’12 LAW,when both were serving on the Dance-Blue 2008 Executive Committee.

More than the money While York hopes DanceBlue 2015

will continue the marathon’s impressive,unbroken streak of bringing in moremoney than the year before, his primarygoal, he says, is making sure this year isthe best yet for patients at the pediatriconcology clinic and their families.

Student leaders say the relationshipsDanceBlue builds between the patientsand UK students are what sets Dance-Blue apart from other charity events.

“You can raise money all day long, but

the family relations aspect is, to me, theheart and soul of DanceBlue. e stu-dent bonds that are formed with thefamilies are what makes DanceBlue sospecial and unique,” says Dehner.

Each year, roughly 30 patients in thepediatric oncology clinic are “adopted”by UK DanceBlue student groups. estudents take them out for fun at themovies or to get pizza, visit them at theclinic during their treatments and con-tact them weekly through emails, cardsor phone calls to let them know they’rebeing thought about and supported.

Each week roughly 30 volunteers onDanceBlue’s Family Relations committeevolunteer in 1-2 hour shis to keep kidscompany in the clinic while they undergotheir treatments, which can take any-where from 30 minutes to eight hours.

“e goal of our committee is to helpget these kids away from cancer for a bit— to help them feel like just a regular

kid,” says Zac Brown, DanceBlue’s Fam-ily Relations chairman for 2015.

Brown’s hours volunteering in the pe-diatric oncology clinic are his favoritepart of his week. “Being with the kids inthe clinic is just the best. No two days arethe same. Some days, I’ll hang out with ateenager, and we’ll have a real conversa-tion about what he’s going through,”Brown says. “Other days, I’ll be in therewith a two-year-old playing peekaboo,just trying to make her laugh.”

e family relations work DanceBluedoes throughout the year “mattershugely,” Wagner says. “From the parents’side of things, it tells them there is a com-munity out there supporting them duringwhat is a very scary time. From the kids’perspective, the visits are just fun. Overthe summer, when UK students are awayfrom campus, all the kids in the clinic canask about is, ‘When are the DanceBluestudents coming back?’” n

Early on, the UK Alumni Association and its club networkaround the country were on board with the goals of Dance-Blue. e association and members found ways to supportthe effort, both monetarily and through letters of encourage-ment written to DanceBlue team members.

Last year, the association and about 18 alumni clubs raisedmore than $20,000 for DanceBlue through UK men’s basketballgame watch parties and individual donations. e associationand clubs would like to expand that outreach this coming year.

Association members like Nick Phelps, president of the UKYoung Alumni Club in Louisville, are enthusiastically embrac-ing the event. In addition to spearheading the Louisville club’sefforts, he has also encouraged other clubs to participate, sug-

gesting how to organize game watch parties and adding rafflesor silent auctions, for example, to bring in more funds.

“More and more students are going to be leaving UK everyyear with a very special place for DanceBlue in their hearts,”Phelps says. “is is a way to help them stay involved withDanceBlue and connect with their local alumni club, so it’s awin-win.”

In addition, the UK Alumni Association offers a yearly re-ception for grads who are former DanceBlue participants tohelp keep team members connected and as a way to say ‘thankyou’ for their efforts.

Visit www.ukalumni.net/events to see when your club isplanning a DanceBlue activity.

Association and UK Alumni Clubs support DanceBlue

Coach John Calipari speaks to the crowd with words of encouragement.