What is Dance Maroon?
Dance Maroon is student led organization located in Louisville, Kentucky at Ballard High school that helps raise funds to support the fight of pediatric cancer. We host annual events for our student body like a Kickball Tournament, Dodgeball Tournament, Car Wash, and a six hour Dance Marathon to raise money and awareness. Hundreds of students have seen the impact of cancer firsthand in halls of Ballard and have committed their time and efforts to support children throughout our city.
Where does the money go?
All of the money raised by Ballard High School is donated to the University of Louisville's raiseRED foundation. For the past three years, the University of Louisville’s raiseRED has hosted an 18-hour dance marathon benefiting the children and families fighting cancer diagnoses. raiseRED is the only student run organization to support the clinical and medical research efforts at the University of Louisville. Their focus is to provide year-round support to the children, families and doctors fighting pediatric cancer at the UofL Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Clinic. Students at UofL have dedicated much personal time and effort to the crusade against childhood cancer. The support provided because of funds raised is meaningful to both the students and families. The financial support is necessary for the clinic to provide the best treatment possible. Last year through hard work and the generosity of Kentuckians, raiseRED hosted its second marathon, raising over $226,000. Each year, the UofL Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Clinic serves approximately 7,300 visits per year whose patients are suffering from various childhood cancers and blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia. UofL Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Clinic serves patients in a variety of ways, from regular check ups, to chemotherapy treatments, to research studies and is one of the few local clinical trial accredited sites.
Ballard's Contribution
Through hosting our own mini dance marathon, Dance Maroon, our students are contributing their time and efforts to this great cause as well. All funds raised by Ballard will benefit the same great cause as raiseRED. This opportunity for high school students is unlike any other in the city. Ballard gets the opportunity to join this great effort in helping not only with important cancer research efforts, but also in impacting lives of individual families daily. We are enthusiastically planning our eighth annual dance marathon to support raiseRED and their clinic. Through the marathon and additional fundraising efforts, DanceMaroon has raised nearly $276,000. This donation benefits a worthy cause, but also empowers hundreds of high school participants.