10 | TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009
DM09
DM09
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009 | 11
dancedancedancemar athon2 0 0 9 New EMCEES call audience ‘welcoming’
Project Kindle to expand in Chicago The economy might be in constant flux, but at least Project Kindle isn’t facing financial woes. Project Kindle, the primary beneficiary of Dance Marathon 2009, will use its newly awarded $576,470 to further HIV/AIDS education in Chicago and build a campsite for children infected with the disease. Eva Payne, the executive director of Project Kindle, said $100,000 will go toward Project Kindle’s SPEAK OUT prog ra m, where c a mpers go to publ ic schools and discuss how HIV/AIDS impacts their lives. “We’ve had kids where it’s their very first time speaking, and the paper’s shaking and they start crying and it’s so hard for them, but they’re so happy at the end,” Payne said. “It’s a very motivating thing for them to be involved with.” Project Kindle implemented this program in 2004 in Los Angeles, and with the help of Dance Marathon, it will now focus on Chicago. The first tour is scheduled for Oct. 4, and will repeat every semester for three years, reaching about 15,000 students. The children prepare for the tours during camp, where they practice sharing
Dance Marathon 2009 marked the end of two long-standing DM traditions: the Marathon itself was held outside of Norris University Center, and two new emcees took the stage. Despite the change, DM 2009 emcees Benjamin Singer Scott Olstad “I was surprised and said their audiby the very ence wa s welwarm reception coming. “I w a s s u rthat everyone pr i s e d b y t he gave us... the very warm recepchanging over tion that everyone gave us,” said from TnA was Singer, a Comvery sad.” municat ion jun ior. “Because Benjamin Singer t he changing DM host and over f rom Tn A Communication junior was very sad.” Todd Johnson, Medill ’08, and Adam Welton, Communication ’08, known as TnA, had emceed the event for the past four years. “(Singer and Olstad) were a little quirky,” said Welton, who showed up at the event with Johnson during the ninth block. “From the little bit I did see, I definitely thought they did a great job.” Olstad, a Medill junior and Daily staffer, said he was surprised by how comfortable he was with the dancers, but added he was also struck by his connection to Project Kindle. “I knew these Project Kindle kids. I knew the liaison. I knew the ambassador and I was really happy about the cause,” he said. “But I grew so much more attached to them in those 30 hours.” Both Olstad and Singer said they hoped their jobs as DM emcees didn’t end at the 30th hour of Dance Marathon 2009. “It’s not something that I’m going to feel entitled to,” Singer said. “But I know Scott and I enjoyed it tremendously and would absolutely love to experience it again next year.”
— Olivia Bobrowsky
— Olivia Bobrowsky
CURRY BOUDREAUX ARCHITECTS/with permission from eva payne PAUL TAKAHASHI/the daily northwestern
Dance Marathon raised $947,834 this year for its recipient charity, Project Kindle. While DM presented the charity with a check on the evening of the event, the final check will not be cut until May, and it will likely be for a greater amount than publicized.
DM begins planning for next year Dance Marathon does not sleep. Just weeks after DM raised $917,834 for this year’s beneficiary, Project Kindle, the organization has started working toward choosing the beneficiary for 2010. Applications have been pouring in for the April 3 deadline, said DM Co-Chair Phil Reich. DM usually receives between 50 and 70 applications a year, the Weinberg senior said. “We’re looking for an organization that needs help now and an organization that we can bring to the next level,” he said. The beneficiary must also be able to connect with Northwestern students, he said. “It’s really important that they understand what Dance Marathon is,” he said. The job of choosing the new beneficiary, which will be announced in May, will fall to the new co-chairs and executive board. The current co-chairs will announce their replacements April 14. Those two students will then choose next year’s executive board members, Reich said. “Being a co-chair is a unique opportunity to see all the facets of this organization,” he said. It is also a chance to make improvements on past years, he said. Grouping all the dancers together in the large tent outside of Norris University Center for the first time this year turned out to be a “huge success,” Reich said. He said he’s looking forward to hearing the new co-chairs’ ideas to improve next year’s event. “For me I think it’s going to be a lot about
their stories, said Brett Avila, the Midwest manager of programs and development. Project Kindle will allocate the rest of the money to the construction of a new dining hall on a new campsite, Payne said. The new campsite will be barrier-free, so any child with any disability can go anywhere in the camp. “We have kids who have wheelchairs or use walkers, and the camp we rent in California is literally on top of a mountain,” Payne said. “The dining hall is at the top of a hill, and we’re literally shuttling kids up to every single meal in a golf cart.” This new campsite will be one of a kind, Payne said. There are only three other barrier-free camps in the U.S., and this will be the only one that is built “green,” Payne said. “They’re incredibly excited, and I’m very happy about it,” said Weinberg senior Peter Koelsch, the co-chair of DM’s finance committee. “You could tell the organization was already going places, and they just needed a monetary kick that we were able to provide.”
A sketch of the proposed “Kindle Ranch,” showing the drop-off and main entry areas of the building. The building will be named after NUDM, said Executive Director Eva Payne.
Donations ‘trickle in’ after DM ends
“We‘ll be there to give them all the advice that we possibly can, but it really is their event from now on.” Liz Banks
Communication senior and DM ‘09 co-chair what their vision is for DM 2010,” he said. “I’m excited to see what the new chairs will bring to the table and what they want to change.” A DM co-chair also has to be “someone with a lot of patience and can respond to emails,” he joked. After they finish choosing their successors, Reich and co-chair Liz Banks, a Communication senior, will be settling into advisory roles. “We’ll be there to give them all the advice that we possibly can, but it really is their event from now on,” Banks said. Banks said her life after DM has been an adjustment. “It’s definitely a change – I’ve been doing DM for four years and the exec. board for two,” she said. “I can’t seem to get myself out of not going to Norris.” Banks said nearing the end of her official duties for Dance Marathon has been “bittersweet” but added she is already “so excited to see next year’s event.” Despite the heavy workload of a DM co-
SEAN COLLINS WALSH/the daily northwestern
This year all of the dancers were held in a tent on the Norris lawn. The fund-raising total announced by the Dance Marathon 2009 executive board and celebrated by dancers in hour 30 has continued to increase as late donations are processed, DM board members said. Reimbursements from some corporate sponsors and donations from alumni clubs around the country are still trickling in, said DM Finance Co-Chair and Weinberg senior Peter Koelsch. In addition, dancers are still turning in money they received after the event. The 2009 beneficiaries, Project Kindle and the Evanston Community Foundation, will likely receive their checks in the mail in late May, when the 2010 beneficiaries are announced. At this point, any additional donations will start going toward next year’s fundraising, said DM Co-Chair and Weinberg se-
Sean collins walsh/the daily northwestern
Record numbers of dancers signed up for this year’s event. chair, Reich said he appreciates what this year’s DM has accomplished. “The best part is standing up on the stage at the end of Dance Marathon announcing the total and seeing how many students are excited about it and seeing how much it means to the beneficiary,” he said. “It’s unforgettable.”
— Kirsten Salyer
nior Phil Reich. “They’re glad because they got their big checks, but now they’ll get a real check they can actually cash,” Reich said. A “decent amount” of donations come in after the event, partly because of the publicity and excitement generated during the weekend, Reich said. National advertising might also have encouraged more donations, he said. Koelsch said the executive board is “obviously very happy and excited” about the fundraising results. However, the focus will remain on the weekend total of $917,834, he said. “We try to factor as much as we can into the final total, but generally we end up writing a check for the beneficiary for more than the amount publicized,” Koelsch said.
— Christina Salter
paul takahashi/the daily northwestern
1976 $9,573 1979 $30,000 1982 $60,428 1985 $86,248 1988 $112,734 1991 $191,000 1994 $250,258 1997 $405,563 2000 $537,645 2003 $462,613 2006 $686,377 2009 $917,834