Many children from Camp Project Kindle face discrimination in their daily lives. They eat off of separate plates, have separate drinking glasses and eat after everyone else is finished, all because they are infected with HIV.
They often have to keep their condition a secret from their friends and take their medicines in the bathroom so that their friends do not ostracize them, said Erin Ward, director of Dance Marathon and third-year psychology student. Ward has interacted with a number of children at Camp Project Kindle, where they spend time with other HIV-infected children and often feel comfortable being completely themselves.
There are 2.5 million HIV-infected children in the world. To acknowledge the plight of these children and show support for the fight against pediatric AIDS, the Pediatric AIDS Coalition is organizing UCLA’s 10th annual Dance Marathon on Feb. 19-20, during which students will be on their feet for 26 hours.
Each dancer is required to raise $219 for the cause. To help dancers raise this amount, the Dance Marathon Team is organizing several pre-events. The first one is “Club Night” on Tuesday at the O Bar in West Hollywood. The proceeds from the fundraising go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and other organizations such as Project Kindle.
“We understand that it is not easy for a student to raise the required amount, and so we are providing an avenue to help them reach the goal,” said Isaac Rose, a member of the Dance Marathon public relations team and fourth-year economics student.
A ticket to “Club Night” costs $15, $10 of which can be donated to a specific dancer’s fundraising account.
A 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a game of laser tag, bingo night, an auction and a “Big Fat Greek Fundraiser,” in which the organizers will sell food in fraternity houses, are some of the other fundraising pre-events, said Natalie Battilana, fundraising director for Dance Marathon and a fourth-year communications studies student. The committee is also selling T-shirts related to this year’s theme, “Power Up.”
The most popular event, according to Battilana, is “Speak Out,” in which kids from Camp Project Kindle will come to De Neve Auditorium and share their experiences with UCLA students.
The number of registered students has gone up from around 1,400 last year to more than 1,600 this year, Ward said. Ward attributed the increase in participants to a hardworking committee that has been reaching out to as many people as possible.
The dancers have to draw plenty of motivation to perform the seemingly impossible task of staying on their feet for such extended periods of time, said Jeniece Alvey, a fourth-year anthropology student who has been participating in Dance Marathon since her first year.
The morale of the participants is typically kept high with all the hype.
The children who will benefit from the money raised will also be present, which will help to motivate the dancers, Alvey said.
After the last marathon, Alvey said she was exhausted and slept for 15 hours straight. Ultimately, though, she said she felt glad to have contributed to a good cause.