12 minute read
DanceBlue: Celebrating 20 years of dancing and changing lives
By Sally Scherer
On the 20th anniversary of the DanceBLue dance marathon, a severe weather forecast caused the annual event to be slightly shorter than its 24-hour goal. But don’t think it negatively affected it.
The 2025 fundraising total of $2,305,274 was record-breaking. Add the totals from each of the 20 years and since the 24-hour no-sit, no-sleep dance marathon started in 2006 it has raised more than $25 million.
“They never missed a beat,” said Jennifer Mynear ’79 ’83 ED whose son, Jarrett, is the inspiration for the dance marathon. Now there’s a space missing between marathon. “There were other years when we had bad weather, we had COVID and one year we had a fire, but we’ve always focused on the mission.”
DanceBlue’s mission is to honor Jarrett’s final request to “do something to help the clinic.” That clinic, originally known as the Pediatric Oncology Outpatient Clinic at Ken- tucky Children’s Hospital, was small and in need of resources when Jarrett was treated there. He died in 2002 at the age of 13 after receiving treatment for cancer for most of his life.
“When we started 33 ½ years ago, the clinic had two doctors, two nurses and one tiny treatment room with a little TV,” Jennifer said of what’s now called the DanceBlue Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic. “Now it’s one of the top pediatric oncology clinics in the nation (for its size).”
Jennifer and Susannah Denomme ’79 ’81 AS, ’83 CI, former associate vice president for philanthropy at UK, were co-founders in 2005 of the DanceBlue program and worked with student leaders to help start the marathon in 2006. After Jarrett’s death, the women went about trying to help the clinic, created the Jarrett Mynear Fund to raise money for its renovation and were remarkably successful, raising about $800,000.
But they were looking for more ways to help when Denomme’s daughter, who was a student at Penn State, told her mother about a dance marathon fundraiser at Penn State. The women knew the idea would work at UK.
“It all fell into place,” said Jennifer. “We approached students, and we had meetings, we made connections, we held open gatherings in the student center.”
“We were persistent,” said Denomme. “There were some rocks we had to get out of the way, but we got the key leadership of student organizations and panhellenic groups interested.”
One day, during their organizing efforts, the women met at Starbucks to get coffee. Denomme said her coffee cup sleeve had the words, “Keep on Dancing!” on it.
“I think it was a sign,” she said, smiling.
Part of what helped get the buy in from students was that many were aware of the good work Jennifer’s son had done. While a cancer patient, Jarrett started Jarrett’s Joy Cart, a mobile cart filled with toys and books that was, and still is, shared with all patients at the University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital. His efforts were publicized nationally. Some of the students who participate in DanceBlue received toys from the cart during their time at the clinic, Jennifer said.
It’s fair to say that over its 20 years, DanceBlue has positively impacted the lives of those receiving care from the clinic and the clinic itself. Because of DanceBlue’s $1.225 million pledge in 2017, the clinic was renovated and renamed. Part of that renovation included increasing the number of infusion rooms and exam rooms. The waiting area became more child friendly with interactive play areas and a 300-gallon fish tank. The changes provided more privacy and comfort for the patients and their families.
There are many aspects of the DanceBlue story that should be classified as amazing. Here’s one for you: the 2025 marathon included 675 dancers, 181 committee members and 65 mini marathons, more than ever before.
But what’s most striking about the marathon is that since it started, DanceBlue has been a student-run philanthropy organization at the University of Kentucky. Students participate in all aspects of the marathon including building relationships with families whose children are receiving care at the clinic.
DanceBlue alumni play a significant role in the dance each year. Alumni gather for a reception at the King Alumni House prior to the start of the marathon. About 150 alumni attended this year’s reception. The alumni group then walks over to the marathon together and sits in a designated area they call the “alumni balcony” overlooking the dancers.
On the second day of the marathon, alumni are allowed on the floor with the dancers, giving them a chance to relive the memories they made there. Each year the Dance Blue alumni present a check at the marathon during what’s referred to as “alumni hour.”
On its 20th anniversary, we’re sharing the stories of some of those who have been involved with DanceBlue and for whom DanceBlue has changed their lives.
The Loss Of A Childhood Friend
Hannah Talley ’25 HS was the 2025 chair of DanceBlue. When friends with her sorority, Chi Omega, told her about DanceBlue she connected with it on a personal level, she said. She had a second-grade friend who died from brain cancer.
“I was 8, she was 8. She wasn’t in school very much and I remember she lost her hair. And then she lost her life. I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time, but through DanceBlue I can advocate for her and honor her,” Talley said.
In addition, Talley has always loved science and enjoyed playing “doctor” as a child with her sister as the “patient.” She has several younger cousins she enjoys spending time with.
“I always knew I wanted to be in pediatric oncology,” she said.
From dancer to morale committee member to mini-marathon coordinator, Talley has seen the organization that started as a young boy’s wish turn into an incredible fundraiser for the oncology clinic. “So many survivors have gone on,” she said. “But there have been 20 years of loss, too.”
When asked, she estimates she has spent 2,000-3,000 hours of her senior year serving DanceBlue.
“I’m just so honored to be a small part of it,” she said.
‘IT’S HOW I GIVE BACK’
Hannah Simms ’15 AS, ’17 LAW learned about DanceBlue from a cousin at UK who was a few years older than Simms.
As a student at Lexington Catholic High School, Simms helped organize a DanceBlue mini marathon in 2010. Mini marathons take place at elementary, middle and high schools and some colleges.
“We had a wonderfully involved community at Lexington Catholic with kids who were eager to get involved. And (the late) Father Norman (Fischer, who served as the chaplain at the school) was such an incredible influence. He could get just about anyone to do anything. We raised $32,000,” Simms said, proudly.
As soon as she became a UK student, she started volunteering with the marathon. In 2012, reports of severe weather with possible tornadic activity caused DanceBlue to decrease its hours from 24 to 12.
“We had to make safe decisions for the 800 students, faculty and staff who were involved. We made a call to delay the start and then we had to communicate this with all the participants. We thoughtfully cut the program and focused on getting the spirit of DanceBlue into a shorter time,” she said.
She describes her involvement as a student leader with DanceBlue as “transformative.”
“The DanceBlue experience involves millions of dollars and hundreds of people and a highly advanced clinic offering cancer treatment,” she said. “There’s a lot of responsibility with it. It is a high impact experience. Students are in all the important conversations and receive a lot of support.”
Simms praises Jennifer Mynear and Denomme for their leadership skills and institutional knowledge.
“The community they help create with DanceBlue is special,” said Simms. “DanceBlue was started with the right intentions. It’s a good experience for students and you can have such an impact.”
For several years after graduation Simms worked at UK. She is currently the director of sports wagering at the Kentucky Racing and Gaming Commission, but she stays involved with DanceBlue as a member of the Golden Matrix Fund Advisory Board. The money raised at the dance marathons goes into the Golden Matrix Fund which supports research, patient care and clinic operations.
As an adult, when she considered what to do with her time and talent, DanceBlue was at the top of the list, she said.
“It’s how I want to give back.”
‘I LOVE TO DANCE’
Townsend Miller ’09 CI happily agreed to join the DanceBlue marathon for a very practical reason: “I love to dance,” he said. He danced with four of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers at the first marathon.
“I remember it vividly,” he said of the event in 2006. “We raised $147,000 and had 180 dancers. Toward the end of the marathon, in the last three hours, they had family hours, and we were introduced to some of the children who were receiving care at the clinic and their families. It was an introduction to the ‘why’ of the marathon. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”
From that moment on, “DanceBlue became attached to me,” said Miller, a major gift officer and senior director of philanthropy for UK HealthCare. “I found my mission in DanceBlue.”
Miller volunteered as part of the student leadership with DanceBlue while at UK. He served on the corporate relations committee as a member, then as assistant chair and then chair. He said his years with DanceBlue were eye opening.
“Sometimes, when you’re young you can be blind to so many things including the struggles of the world: childhood cancer, homelessness, addiction. But the real-life stories a DanceBlue are so moving.
I was very lucky,” he said. “DanceBlue was what drove me at UK and now it’s the reason I’m in fundraising.”
‘WE DANCE FOR HEATHER’
Heather Shaw ’12 CI was diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a sophomore at UK. It developed after having a liver transplant when she was in high school.
In January of 2009, she spent five months at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital being treated.
“All of a sudden one day, a Kappa Delta (bed) sheet came to my hospital room and it read, ‘We dance for Heather.’”
“My Kappa Delta sorority sisters had been dancing at DanceBlue for me. All the ribbons they wore were for me. We put that sheet up on the wall in my hospital room. It was a great moment.”
In January 2010, Shaw, a native of Cincinnati, was able to return to UK. She wasn’t strong enough to participate in DanceBlue with her sorority sisters that year, but she supported the marathon and the following year she “threw my heart into it,” she said, as a member of the family relations committee.
“Some of the children had the same form of cancer I did, even though it was very rare. I made a great connection with those families. I loved that part of it,” she said.
Shaw is the special events coordinator at the Akron (Ohio) Zoo and she has served as a board member on the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund since 2018. The fund works to keep pediatric cancer research as a priority in Kentucky.
As a cancer survivor, the importance of cancer research funding is very real for Shaw. She is proud of the advocacy work the trust fund and DanceBlue are doing.
“DanceBlue has just grown so much from what it was in 2007. There are partnerships with pediatric cancer care providers at UK, the University of Louisville and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. There are social workers to help the families at the clinic. I watched my mom struggle when I had cancer. Now there’s just a lot of extra support.”
‘THE MISSION HAS STAYED STRONG’
Chris Crumrine '08 CI, ’10 GS, ’23 AS has stayed involved with DanceBlue since it began. He danced, he served as the marketing committee chair and as a senior he was on the leadership team. Currently, he’s a member of the Golden Matrix Fund Advisory Committee.
His passion for the marathon is rooted in meeting the needs of the families and the children who receive care at the pediatric cancer clinic. The advisory clinic works collaboratively with the clinic personnel to make sure that happens, he said.
“The student leadership team has a deep commitment,” he said. “It always has. We all want to maximize the impact for the families and to support the families.”
For families of children with cancer, the stressors of daily living can be overwhelming. There’s a child to care for, but also bills to pay and an emotional toll on other family members and siblings. There can be difficulties with regular job attendance, securing reliable transportation to and from the clinic for tests and procedures and then there’s schoolwork that needs to be tended to.
Prior to DanceBlue there weren’t social workers at the clinic or school intervention specialists or nutritionists or other support and assistance to family members.
“We now have a comfortable and safe place for families during a very difficult and scary time,” he said.
Money from the Golden Matrix Fund also helps provide clinical research associate sup port and laboratory research in pediatric oncolo gy and in the Markey Cancer Center.
“Over the years the mission has stayed strong,” he said. ■
