Monday, October 18, 2010

Parents Weekend Cheat Sheet

This Friday, Dance Marathon will be in the GSU Ziskind Lounge for Parents Weekend check-in! We have a ton of exciting activities going on that you certainly won't want to miss such as a fun informational video with a response board, a map showing the status of HIV/AIDS worldwide, and a trivia game. If you make it to check-in with your parents, read up on some of the basic DM info below. Then, maybe you can win a prize for Mom and Dad!
  • Dance Marathon raises money for pediatric HIV/AIDS research and education.
  • We dance for 18 hours.
  • The HIV/AIDS ribbon is red.
  • Elizabeth Glaser founded the Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) after contracting HIV in 1981 from a blood transfusion and unknowingly passing the disease along to her son and daughter.
  • EGPAF has more treatment and prevention sites in Africa than on any other continent.
  • Basketball star Magic Johnson credits Elizabeth Glaser for encourging him to speak out about HIV.
  • Children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS don't pay anything to attend Camp Heartland. It costs the camp, however, $3,000 in fundraiser per camper.
  • The United Nations has designated "fight global HIV/AIDS" as one of its Millenium Development Goals. There will be a special discussion about the Millenium Development Goals for Parents Weekend from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday at the GSU.
Parents Weekend check-in will take place at the GSU at 775 Commonwealth Ave in the Ziskind Lounge on the 2nd floor this Friday from 11am to 7 p.m. Have fun with your parents this weekend!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Dance Marathon does Drag!



Last night, Dance Marathon attended Spectrum's annual Drag Ball. This year's theme was Monster Drag Ball: Show Us Your Teeth. Appropriately, we donned zombie-like DM shirts, covered ourselves in fake blood and partied with the lovely ladies and gents in attendance. Here are some highlights:



Lovely DMers with Justin Touchette, Co-President of Spectrum and Drag Ball organizer.



Dean Elmore drops by.



Our free condoms!

We had a great time, thanks Spectrum for inviting us, we hope to be a part of it again next year!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Drag Ball and Fact of the Week

Dance Marathon is proud to be supporting BU Spectrum's Monster Drag Ball this Friday! The event for the LGBT community and friends will be hosted by Marc by Marc Jacobs and is Lady Gaga/zombie themed. We'll have a table with free condoms and info about Dance Marathon, so be sure to stop by and say hello!

Details:

Friday, Oct. 15
10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Metcalf Ballroom at the GSU, 775 Commonwealth Ave.

Check out the Facebook event here!

Did you know?

"...notifications of new HIV diagnoses among homosexual men have increased, mostly since the late 1990s. The rate of increase varied, but exceeded 50 percent in many countries. Trends in direct measures of HIV incidence in homosexual men were rare, and increases in HIV testing may explain the increases in many nations. Even so, several clinic- and community-based cohort studies in Europe and North America reported increasing incidence."

-a 2008 study published on TheBody.com

Monday, October 4, 2010

Fact of the week: American children

Did you know?

Nearly 16,000 American children under 19 are living with AIDS. That's almost the whole undergraduate population of Boston University.

Some people may think pediatric HIV/AIDS is eliminated in the United States. While breakthroughs in research have significantly reduced the number of mother-to-child transmissions of HIV in the U.S. in the past 20 years, and treatments have allowed HIV-positive children to live longer and healthier lives, there are still children across the country living with the disease.

Our two causes, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and One Heartland, have had a huge impact on reducing the number of new infections and raising awareness throughout the country.

One Heartland has camps in Willow River, Minnestoa, New York City, Malibu, California and Minneapolis to provide children and families affected by HIV and AIDS with healthy environments for personal growth and social development. Surveys have shown that campers who attended camp longer were significantly more likely to accept HIV/AIDS as part of their life.

All the services One Heartland provides each camper for a week of camp and year-long support costs $3,000. The families that send their children to camp are required to pay nothing. Fundraisers like Dance Marathon make this happen.

At Dance Marathon, we hold a special place in our hearts for the campers who have shared their stories with us every year.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

BIG THANKS!

Hey DMers!

Thank you to everyone who came out on Thursday, September 30th to support our dough fundraiser at Uno's Chicago Grill in Kenmore Square. We had a great turn out and it seemed like everyone had a fun time and enjoyed their delicious meals, and even more delicious desserts.. I don't know about you, but I could personally eat that cookie thing for the rest of my life!

We hope you all had a good time and again thank you so much for all of your support! Also a big thanks to Uno's & all of the staff at Uno's in Kenmore for collaborating with us on the event! Check out some pictures from Thursday night below and if you have any pictures from Uno's on Facebook please tag Dance Marathon in them!

DM Love,

Steph, Maggie, Eric
2011 Overall Chairs