Dakotathon: Helping children one donation at a time

The largest student-led nonprofit organization in South Dakota held its biggest event, the Dance Marathon, in person for the first time since 2019.  Dakotathon is a year-long fundraising event supporting the Children’s Miracle Network. This year, the Miracle Children from the Sanford Children’s Hospital were welcomed back to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center (SCSC).  Students, […]

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Dakotathon exceeds goal during push week

The 25-year anniversary of Dakotathon is this year, and with that came a push week goal of $25,000 raised for the week of Oct. 18-21, including a $15,000 goal for Thursday, Oct. 21. Dakotathon, a campus organization that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network and the Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls, raised $26,791 […]

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Dakotathon continues despite COVID-19

This year’s Dakotathon, an annual fundraiser at USD, will be held virtually because of COVID-19 restrictions. However, this hasn’t stopped students from choosing to participate.   Junior medical biology major Leah Drengenberg said she had never heard of Dakotathon until the end of her freshman year, but had heard of dance marathons. Drengenberg said she was sitting in class when people came in to talk about the Dakotathon and she decided […]

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Students, family celebrate life with Dakotathon kick-off

April 23, 3:30 p.m. With Dakotathon in full swing, participants arrived at the Wellness Center just before 3:30 p.m. The Miracle children and dancers played games sporadically while the organizers set up speakers on the basketball courts. Soon after, more than 200 participants learned another rendition of the miracle dance.  The newest addition included moves synchronized to “Barbie […]

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Dakotathon members prepare for 24-hour dance marathon

Dakotathon is just over two weeks away, and fundraising for the charity event is starting to ramp up. On April 23, dancers will be raising money over the course of 24 hours for the Children’s Miracle Network. Starting at 9 a.m., Dakotathon will host a number events to benefit Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls. Dakotathon […]

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UPDATED: Dakotathon raises more than $84,000 for Children’s Miracle Network

More than 400 University of South Dakota students are giving up 24 hours of their weekend today to raise awareness and funds for Children’s Miracle Network. Throughout the day, students will help “Miracle” children and their families forget about their hardships through a variety of activities scheduled throughout campus and Vermillion. “We’re here to make miracles […]

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Dakotathon raises charity expectations, dedicating dance to former miracle child

Dakotathon at the University of South Dakota won’t be an easy task in 2015. In addition to raising its fundraising goal from $56,000 to $61,000, the organization was also hit with a more personal loss. Dakotathon is a 24-hour event in which volunteer dancers are paired with “miracle children” — children with illnesses — to […]

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Dakotathon 2014 Coverage

9 a.m. – The 2014 Dakotathon ended April 6 in the place it started, the Muenster University Center’s ballroom with students, “miracle children” and their families all in attendance. The major reveal for the closing ceremony was the amount raised with these year’s event. Dakotathon fundraised $56,205 for the Children’s Miracle Network, $6,ooo more than […]

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