Over 2,000 participants, including UCLA students, community
members and parents, put their lives and studying on hold this
weekend, to dedicate their time to a 26-hour dance party to raise
funds and awareness for pediatric AIDS.
The funds will help the more than 2,000 children worldwide
forced to suspend their adolescence as they become infected with
HIV.
From 11 a.m. Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday, students danced the
weekend away at the third annual UCLA Dance Marathon, helping raise
$110,782.80 ““ more than double last year’s amount
““ for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
“Stay Tuned for the Cure,” the theme to this
year’s marathon allowed students to dress up as different TV
personalities from various stations like Animal Planet and MTV.
“Every 12 hours someone is affected with AIDS … the
cause is something that never goes away no matter how much you
change the channel it will never go away,” said Wunmi
Onile-Ere, public relations chairwoman for UCLA Dance Marathon.
On the dance floor, students with seemingly endless energy let
loose to music ranging from Britney Spears to Vanilla Ice.
Periodically, the dancing stopped and the thousands of students
listened to speakers ranging from campus administrators to students
living with AIDS.
Cameron Siemers, a communications student at California State
University, Long Beach, just recently back from the hospital,
addressed students, inspiring them to keep on moving.
“It makes me feel really good to see people dancing for
kids like me,” said Siemers, who is HIV positive.
In addition to dancing consecutively for 26 hours, student
dancers and moralers ““ students who motivate the dancers to
keep dancing ““ also engaged in contests such as the midnight
limbo contest.
Lou Peña and her daughter, Cristina, who are both HIV
positive, said they share a sincere appreciation for events like
UCLA’s Dance Marathon. Cristina, a student at Pasadena City
College, also spoke at the event.
Peña and her daughter, now 19, were diagnosed in 1986, a
time when medication for AIDS was limited. Luckily, because
Cristina was diagnosed at age 2, she was put on medication
immediately and is doing well, Peña said.
Celebrity entertainers and guests such as Kimberly Locke from
“American Idol 2″ and Steven Hill from MTV’s
“Real World Las Vegas” supported the students in their
commitment to dance away the epidemic.
Locke, who is actively involved with the Elizabeth Glaser
Pediatric AIDS Foundation, acknowledges the importance to commit
time and dedication to awareness and fund-raising for pediatric
AIDS.
“It is important to give back especially when I’m in
a position to do so … If this is all it takes for me to give
back, it’s such a small gesture that goes a long way,”
Locke said.
In the 22nd hour, several students were visibly exhausted but
continued to dance with the same enthusiasm and dedication as when
they started.
“It’s incredible that we can all come together and
do the same thing … every one of us has contributed
something,” said Laura Chooljian, a fourth-year sociology
student and dancer for the marathon. “When you look back
it’s only 26 hours to save someone’s life.”
Peña said she is grateful for events raising money for
pediatric AIDS. The funds they raise could be responsible for
creating new medications or maybe a vaccine to prevent HIV, she
said.
“The (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS) Foundation pretty
much secured my existence because I was put on AZT (an
anti-retroviral drug) at the age of 5 and that was due to research
from the foundation, because before that, they were not giving
medication to children,” Cristina said.
Cristina, who refers to her HIV as a “little
wrinkle” in her life, said she does not let her affliction
prevent her from doing everyday activities. On top of being a
full-time student, aspiring journalist and part-time worker,
Cristina still finds time to speak publicly about her situation to
nurses, children, doctors and at events like UCLA’s Dance
Marathon.
“(The marathon participants) are like masked heroes, I
don’t know them personally, but everyone of them is
contributing to my life and my longevity … without them, research
and time would be lost,” Cristina said.