Samantha Hauck | Staff Writer
Oct. 6, 2022
Duqathon hosted a carnival on Academic Walk. All proceeds went to the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, which is a Miracle Network Hospital.
This event served as one of many fundraising efforts that take place throughout the year, leading up to Duqathon’s main dance event in the spring.
“For us, personally, we donate to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh,” said external director Sami Srolovitz. “So the point of Child Health Day is to spread awareness for the need, so all of the money we raise goes straight to the hospital for supplies for the children there for different activities, to decorate the hospital and make it a more welcoming environment.”
The Children’s Hospital works with Children’s Miracle Network to ease the stress of both the patients and their parents. Organizations that help these hospitals, like Duqathon, give donations that help provide anything from treatment to music therapy, and fun activities for the kids.
Duqathon is in its third year as a club and is continuously looking for ways to spread the word about their cause, and to get more students to register for the dance-a-thon in the spring.
“This event in particular helps to spread the word about having people register at Duquesne to be a part of our dance marathon and to help raise some extra donations, and just overall spread the word about our cause and how we are raising money for that,” said junior public relations chair Callie McKendree.
In its first year, Duqathon raised $18,000, and last year the group raised close to $70,000. The goal is to keep increasing this number as the years go on. Events such as these are very important for Duqathon because, not only are they a great way to fundraise, but they also help to spread the word of their cause.
“Child Health Day helps raise awareness for pediatric illness and disease, so for us, this is our whole mission,” said finance director Grace Muccio. “This is our day of the year where it honors what we are working towards, so it gets us excited for our main event in the spring.”
Events like the Duqathon carnival are ways to help out a charity and bring students together. It brings recognition to what happens outside of Duquesne’s campus.
“I joined freshman year and it was just to get myself involved on campus and meet new people, but then throughout college, I just got more involved with it and it’s super meaningful to me and this is for a great cause,” Muccio said. I couldn’t be more proud of our executive team for everything they do.”
Hospital relations chair Maddie Bubb is involved in Duqathon because of how passionate she is for health care and helping others.
Muccio ran the raffle basket stand at the carnival. Each basket was worth $100 or more, and had different themes such as a Pittsburgh basket, a workout basket, a coffee basket and a gift card basket. In order to get raffle tickets, students had to register for Duqathon.
Bubb and special events co-chair Shaelyn Walker ran the games and prize stand. Participants could donate any amount they wished to play the games and potentially win a prize.
“We were just kind of thinking of a fun block party sort of theme, and everybody loves carnival games, everybody loves raffle baskets and free prizes, so I think we kind of combined all of those things and the free food into one and made it a big party,” Walker said.
Students and faculty were able to stop by the carnival from 12 to 5 p.m. There was free cotton candy and popcorn, raffle baskets and games.
“I like participating in events like these because it helps me gain awareness of what is going on around campus and all of the different things that are going on,” said student Re’Naye Waklatsi. “It helps me get involved and stay involved.”
Student Dasara Slova registered for Duqathon and was interested in Kendra and Joey’s raffle baskets.
“I feel like it just gets students involved on campus and it opens up stuff outside of campus as well [about] what is going on not only at Duquesne, but around Pittsburgh, and it’s not just about yourself, but benefiting others as well,” Slova said.
Duqathon’s main event is a dance-a-thon that takes place in April. Students can register online on their website: events.dancemarathon.com, or they can register at any event throughout the school year.
“I love Duqathon so much, and we really are just like a big family, a big community and we all have a passion for this, and it’s so exciting,” Walker said.