Georgetown’s third annual Hoya-thon – a 24-hour dance marathon to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of D.C. and Georgetown University Hospital’s Pediatric Mobile Clinic – raised over $21,000 last weekend in Sellinger Lounge.

Nearly 50 dancers, 90 staffers and several corporate sponsors helped this year’s fundraiser top last year’s $18,000 total.

Hoya-thon Chair Sean Garrett (MSB ’04), who served as the corporate sponsorship chair last year, said that he was pleased to have raised over $20,000. “Due to the current economic conditions, we decided that our goal this year was to be a better event while still raising as high of a total as we could,” he said. “We ended up surpassing that goal in ways I wouldn’t have anticipated.”

In addition to having the most dancers in the charity fundraiser’s history, Garrett said that he was encouraged by increased student involvement, including more student DJs and bands. GU Kickline and the Georgetown Pep Band led the event’s opening ceremonies.

“To top it all off, we were able to raise more money this year than ever before, even with corporations having less money to give out,” Garrett said. “Overall, I would consider the event a huge success.”

Participants, who each raised a minimum of $100 in sponsorships for the fundraiser, were required to dance for 24 hours, receiving a 15-minute break every four hours.

“When I finished, I felt amazed that so many people spent 24 hours on their feet after a busy week – I’m still stunned that we all managed to dance for so long,” first-time dancer Benay Brotman (COL ’06) said. “I am extremely grateful to some of the enthusiastic staff members who kept me dancing when the going got tough.”

Support staff worked in four-hour shifts to boost morale, bring food to the dancers and even provide them with massages.

“This is just an excellent event and I wanted to help out anyway I could,” support staff member Sareeta Carter (COL ’06) said. “We just make sure that everyone out here that’s dancing is having a good time.”

Dancers and staff agreed that the most memorable experience of the 24-hour dance marathon took place when six families, including 15 children ages four to 16, joined the fundraiser on Friday night, sharing their stories and dancing with the students.

“When the kids came to tell their stories, it [was] a very moving experience,” Pontip Rasavong (MSB ’03), media relations director for Hoya-thon, said. “And the dancers interacted with them and everyone had a great time.”

Kelly O’Neill, coordinator for events and programs for the Children’s Hospital Foundation from Children’s Hospital of D.C., agreed. “It was the most successful Hoya-thon yet. I’ve never seen such an energetic group of college students . They kept each other going during down times,” she said. “It was incredible when the families were here to see them interacting together – the dancers were great with the kids.”

Of the $21,000 raised, $13,000 came from corporate sponsors, finances and fundraising chair Abdul Ismaila (MSB ’03) said. Corporate sponsors included Coca-Cola, Subway, Ben & Jerry’s, Domino’s Pizza, Whole Foods Market, The Corp and Marriott.

“The biggest contributor was Marriott, who donated well over $2,500 in terms of food and facilities,” Ismaila said.

The Senior Class Committee, Alpha Phi Omega, WGTB and the NHS Academic Council also made contributions to the charity fundraiser. The event also drew in-kind donations from students who could donate during the marathon.

Twenty-five percent of proceeds went to the Pediatric Mobile Hospital and 75 percent went to Children’s Hospital of D.C.

Hoya-thon was established at Georgetown by Kevin Preis (COL ’01), and is modeled after a similar dance marathon at Penn State that raises nearly $3 million annually.