UDance raises more than $2 million to fight childhood cancer

Reserving your energy for when it counts — during the dance marathons later, more frantic hours — is a trick Mrissa Snyder has picked up over her three years at UDance.

"The morning is us trying to save our energy because we know we have to be here for 12 hours," Snyder said. "Near the end, the last hour, when you think you're about to fall on the ground, there's the most energy ever. Everyone is jumping around."

Snyder joined thousands from the University of Delaware Sunday in transforming the Bob Carpenter Center into a massive dance floor, a constant swirl of jumping, shaking, stepping students laying out their best moves for the cause of childhood cancer. 

This school year, students efforts raised more than $2 million that will flow swiftly into the hands of the families fighting a child's cancer together.

For a dozen years, UDance at the University of Delaware has served as a capstone to a year of fundraising and as one big party to let victims of the disease have one day, at least, where the last thing on their minds should be their personal medical battles. 

"I know too many people who have had cancer. It's not fair to them or the parents or anyone," Snyder said. "There's these kids who are sitting in hospital beds who don't get to have a childhood. I did, and I want to stand for them." 

Snyder's sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, was one of the many campus organizations who sponsored one of the children in the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, more commonly called the B+ Heroes. Those students spend the year raising money for the organization, founded by a UD alumn, and the total is revealed at the end of UDance. 

Donations have grown from $8,000 in the event's first year to nearly $1.9 million raised in the 2016-17 school year. The total revealed Sunday night was $2.02 million.

That money provides assistance to the families of children suffering from cancer and funds pediatric cancer research across the country. 

The UDance event challenges the students to stand up and stay active from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in honor of their B+ Heroes. The stage is occupied at various times with live music acts, dance teams, special guests, such as two members of the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles, and even live haircuts which will benefit wigs for cancer patients. 

"The idea is for them to take 12 hours and just dance the whole time in honor of those kids, show they're supporting these children and that we're in the fight with you," said UDance Director of Public Relation Lindsey Tattory. "We just try to keep the crowd motivated, excited and on track to remember why they're here." 

The most important floor act of the day, though, is the B+ Heroes talent show, which showcased their dances, jokes, songs, and instrumentality for a roaring audience. 

Cheering especially for one of them, a guitar player named Mateo, was 21-year-old Emily Meltzer, who's fraternity Alpha Phi Omega sponsored him this year. When raising money over the year, Meltzer said he's who he used to sell friends and family on giving.

"It really hits home with people that this kid, this one guy, he has cancer," Meltzer said. "He's really into classic rock, which I think is awesome. He's just unafraid to be himself."

Fifty-two B+ Heroes were paired with UD organizations this year, mostly from the tri-state region, Tattory said, though some were too sick to come or stay all day.

For those fortunate enough to make it to Newark, Tattory said giving them a day of love and attention has become a school tradition. 

"UDance gives them a chance to forget that they're sick for a day," Tattory said. 

Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@delawareonline.com or (302) 319-1855 or @duvINdelaware.

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