UI Dance Marathon raises over $2M for Children's Hospital

When the crowd at the 21st University of Iowa Dance Marathon found out they had raised over $2 million for the UI Children's Hospital on Saturday night, screams and tears of joy filled the Memorial Union.

Revealed at the end of the 24-hour dance marathon on a stage in front of over 3,000 people, the record-breaking amount of $2,001,856.21 was spelled out over 12 separate hand-held signs. The money raised, like it has the past 20 years, will help families of those at the Children's Hospital.

For the 2,500 dancers from UI, it was culmination of months of fundraising. For Anna Ertz, it was a bittersweet flood of memories.

Ertz is the mother of Jackson Gipe, a 12-year-old boy from Burlington who died at the Children's Hospital after battling leukemia for 7.5 weeks last summer. Ertz was the dance marathon's last speaker — the one who told the dancers they could sit down 24 hours of standing and dancing.

Funds raised by previous UI Dance Marathons helped pay for Jackson's funeral, so Ertz knew she and her family had to attend to thank the dancers.

"They didn't know Jackson, but they're the ones in that room who helped raise the money that helped us," Ertz said.

After Ertz told the crowd to sit, UI freshman Laura Mallinger felt a previously unknown amount of relief by getting off her feet for the first time in 24 hours. "Right after the halfway point in the night, I didn't know if I could make it. I didn't know if my feet could handle it," Mallinger said.

While they danced, participants heard stories from those who were helped by the Children's Hospital. Eric Ertz, Gipe's stepfather, joined his wife in sharing their family's experience over the course of the night.

"We told our story personally, one-on-one, or one-on-twenty, and you could see that it moved and fueled them," Eric Ertz said.

When Gipe's family took the stage, Anna Ertz was the only one who told her son's story, including the last moment she felt the "beautiful peach fuzz that was atop of his head." The crowd was silent except for her words and the sound of tears.

"The way she was speaking, I felt I was in her position a bit," Mallinger said.

Anna Ertz lifted the crowd's spirits and brought them back to their sore feet. "We are proud, and we'll be here every year to cheer you on," she said as the crowd cheered and jumped up.

After the total was announced, people started streaming out of the Memorial Union and returning to their normal lives.

"I'll take a cold shower, go to bed, and maybe do some chemistry homework," Mallinger said.

Anna Ertz and her family said they were going to grab some food — "But we're not going to forget the past 24 hours ever."

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com, or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.