Dance Marathon. You’ve probably heard the term a lot recently, but what does it really mean?

For many USC students, Dance Marathon is known for one thing: a 14-hour dance party each February that fills the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center with music, line dances and hundreds of students on their feet. But the impact of Dance Marathon stretches far beyond one day of dancing.

For 28 years, USC students have committed themselves to supporting Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, raising millions of dollars in the process. Every aspect of Dance Marathon — from finances to event planning — is run entirely by students, making it the largest student-run philanthropic organization in South Carolina.

On Feb. 21, students gathered once again for the organization’s annual main event, celebrating a year of fundraising and revealing this year’s total. The day was complete with activities like glow-in-the-dark mini golf, arts and crafts, cornhole and color team competitions to keep participants energized. The event also featured performances from the Carolina Band and feature twirlers.

Members of the morale team also debuted a 10-minute line dance they choreographed months in advance, performing it every hour on the hour. And along one side of the room, the “Miracle Hallway” displayed photos and stories of each Miracle child and the Child Life staff at Prisma — a reminder of who the day is truly for.

This year alone, USC Dance Marathon raised $765,401. Every dollar goes directly to Prisma’s Child Life department, funding the emotional and psychological support that complements medical care. That support looks like fully accessible playgrounds outside the hospital, emotional support dogs, activity rooms on every floor, music therapy programs and salaries for Child Life specialists — the people who sit beside children during their hardest days.

What makes Dance Marathon bigger than just a fundraiser, though, is its connection to the families it serves.

Unlike distant charity drives, USC Dance Marathon builds real relationships with “Miracle Families” — families who have directly benefited from Child Life services. These families attend meetings, speak at events and return year after year. Some even form lasting friendships with students, joking that their babysitter lists are filled with Dance Marathon members.

Several Miracle Families attended this year’s event, with some taking the stage to thank students for their dedication and to share how the organization supported them through some of their darkest moments.

The Priesters, a Miracle Family for eight years, returned to thank Dance Marathon for its continued support following their son Tap’s near-fatal drowning accident. Lindsey Priester delivered an emotional speech about the role Child Life played for her and Tap’s older sister, Gardner, during that time.

“There were people at the emergency room at Prisma; they were called Child Life specialists,” she said. “That’s who y’all are dancing for. You are dancing for the Child Life specialist that pulled me in, that grabbed [Gardner] and said, ‘Let’s go get puzzles. Let’s go color. Let’s go play.’ And they pulled up a chair for me, sat me down and got me water as I felt like my life was falling apart.”

Tap spent 11 days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Prisma. Miraculously, he made a complete recovery and has no brain damage. In 2021, he was named the 2021 Children's Miracle Network Hospital's Champion for Prisma Health Children's Hospital.

Lindsey said the Child Life specialists helped ease the trauma her family endured from the accident.

“The things that this organization has done for our family and for the children’s hospital here in Columbia—y’all have no earthly idea,” Priester said. “What you are doing today is why we have people like the Child Life specialists at the hospital. So thank you so much from the bottom of my heart, and from the bottom of my family’s heart, for opening your heart and taking the time out of your weekend to celebrate what we have here.”

Another family, the Ards, also shared their story.

Meredith Ard went into labor at five months pregnant with twins Sutton and Sawyer due to complications from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a rare condition that affects identical twins. Sawyer died 13 hours after birth, and Sutton was born with a congenital heart defect called pulmonary valve stenosis.

“When they told us our son was actively dying, the Child Life specialist was in that room with us,” Meredith said. “The music therapist was in there, recording his heart rhythm, and after he passed away, she put a box together for him. So it had, like, the hat that he was wearing. They did all the prints. The recording of his heart rate is in there, and it’s just really awesome. Like, that's all we have of our son. It's just a box, but it just means the world to us."

Sutton spent a total of seven months in the hospital, where he underwent open heart surgery, survived a bowel perforation and suffered from a significant brain bleed, which caused him to develop cerebral palsy. Throughout those months, a Child Life specialist supported the Ards until Sutton was finally able to return home.

“And then, our entire NICU stay, she really took over, keeping us updated, and, you know, we had hard days,” Meredith added. “We had a lot of ups and downs, and there were a couple of times that they told us he also wasn't going to make it, so she was there during the whole ride, just really helping to bring light to such a dark time.”

Meredith also described how Child Life and Dance Marathon have supported their older son, Sam.

“I just love how much the sibling also is focused on,” she said. “All of our day-to-day is a lot of focus around Sutton, so Sam has to do a lot of compromising because of Sutton’s needs. Here, Sam can also get attention and be accommodated as well, and it’s not all just about Sutton. The family aspect is so important.” 

“I don't think they truly understand how much impact they're having on us as parents and our kids,” she added.

For some USC students, Dance Marathon carries a deeply personal meaning, and each year a few share their own stories from the main event stage.

To morale team member Madison Harvey, it represents a full-circle moment.

When she was 17, Harvey was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She spent time in Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, a Children’s Miracle Network hospital, like Prisma. During her stay, she noticed a young girl down the hall who did not have family with her but was constantly kept company. 

“They would sit with her, do activities, sometimes just exist beside her,” Madison recalled. “And I was really intrigued by that, because I was like, ‘Who is this person?’ It wasn’t a nurse or a doctor, but a Child Life specialist.”

She later connected that experience to her own brother’s hospital stay, where Child Life specialists ran bingo nights and created moments of joy in the middle of medical uncertainty. Watching Child Life in action, first through her brother, then through her own experience, planted a seed.

When she arrived at USC and learned about Dance Marathon, it felt like everything aligned.

Dance Marathon’s culture struck her immediately. One of the organization’s core beliefs is that “it’s cool to care.” In a world where passion is often mistaken for trying too hard, USC Dance Marathon celebrates students who lead with empathy and intention. For Madison, that was transformative.

Over two years, she became not just a participant but a mentor. She helped guide freshmen through their first experiences, recruited her own sorority “littles” into the organization and watched as new members found the same sense of belonging she once did.

For the families who take the stage each year, Dance Marathon represents support during unimaginable moments. For students like Harvey, it represents growth, purpose and the chance to turn hardship into action.

What happens inside the Wellness and Fitness Center for 14 hours each February may look like dancing, music and celebration. But behind every step of the line dance and every dollar raised is something much larger — a community of students choosing to care.

And for the children and families at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital, that choice makes all the difference.