The Community Action Team hosted the Dance Marathon Fundraiser on March 18 to raise money for Caracole, a local non profit organization. 

“Dance Marathon has been a tradition through all the years of Community Action Team, and it’s for AIDS/HIV because we donate the money that we raised to Caracal and that’s their focus,” SENIOR Sakura Adachi, co-president of the Community Action Club, said. 

The Community Action Team’s first task each year is to raise money to support the fundraiser.

“Every month we sell Christmas trees in the winter, we rake leaves, and keep gutters for the elderly in the fall,” SENIOR Makayla Rafalo, co-president of the Community Action Team, said. “In March, Dance Marathon is our main event that we do and we have bake sales every month to help [with the cost].” 

As the event came closer, the club members began to gather materials to set everything up.

“We had to talk to the treasurer, get purchase orders, and get the school’s credit card,” SENIOR Holly Risinger, co-president of the Community Action Club, said. “We made committees sign people up to go get food and to get prizes and decorations.”

With the fundraiser location decorated and prizes and food collected, the club focused on advertising the event. 

“I think, especially post-COVID, It’s been hard to drag people in and get them to come and also someone saying, yes, they’ll come and someone actually coming is very different,” Adachi said.

On the day of the event, students began to arrive and support the non-profit organization.

“[HIV and AIDS] used to be stigmatized pretty widely and it still is, but luckily, people have gotten a lot better about it,” SENIOR Sydney Elliot, an attendee of the Dance Marathon Fundraiser said. “I feel like people kind of forget about it, so I think it’s still a good thing to raise awareness about making sure we’re still raising money.”

Some students wanted to donate to the cause because of how HIV and AIDS have affected them personally. 

“My uncle and my mom’s best friend actually died of AIDS, [so] it has really touched my life,” SENIOR Holly Fryburger, attendee of the Dance Marathon Fundraiser, said. “I would like to help raise as much money as I can.”

The Community Action Team believes that their fundraiser not only supports a good cause, but it also emphasizes the importance of people coming together to have fun.

“A lot of people would rather just donate, but I’d rather students come versus donate,” Adachi said. “I would rather have a cheaper donation with more people than just more money and no people. Together everyone is excited, and it’s fun just cheering people on.”

With this year’s smaller than expected turnout, the Community Action Team hopes that in the future they can increase the number of participants in the fundraiser and attract more underclassmen.

“It’s a lot to get someone to come, especially when you’re saying you’re gonna be dancing for four or five hours,” Rafalo said. “Just getting people to want to come obviously was hard. There are not many juniors here because it’s a senior-based club, and I don’t even think there are any sophomores or freshmen.”

However, even though the crowd wasn’t as large or diverse as the club hoped, the club put all their efforts into the event and hosted a fundraiser full of fun. In the end, the Community Action Team raised $700 dollars. 

“This fundraiser has been going on for years, so we just want to keep it going and keep up the legacy,” Risinger said. “I love seeing everybody here dancing around and participating in the contests and winning prizes.”