Saturday, December 10, 2011

TerpThon


Hi all! I'm Savvy. Some of you may remember hearing from me a couple times before about Terp Thon. For the past two years, I have been a participant of this event. This year, though, I have been blessed with the opportunity to be more involved with this amazing organization. This is just such an incredible and worthy cause, and I can't even begin to imagine my life without it. So for those of you who don't know or remember, let me tell ya all about it.


Terp Thon is a student-run organization at UMD. We raise money and awareness year-round for the Children's Miracle Network, which connects us to a local hospital. All the money we raise goes directly to our hospital, the Children's National Medical Center in DC. The Dance Marathon is an event in the spring at which participants pledge to stand on their feet for 12 hours for those who can't. The 12 hours represents the typical nurse's shift at the hospital. The Dance Marathon is basically a celebration of all the money we raised throughout the year. We invite some of the kids from the hospital and just make them feel like rockstars for the day. It is an absolute blast, and it really is a life-changing event. In only our second year last year, Terp Thon raised nearly $140,000 - more than any Dance Marathon has ever raised in its second or third year! Terp Thon is one of the fastest growing Dance Marathons in the nation, and we continue to try to make it even better.


Everything we do is FTK, For The Kids. The kids in these hospitals deserve nothing but the best. Every year, I meet more of these kids, and every time, they make my heart melt. Everything they go through, yet they maintain such spirit and motivation. It just moves you. They are so grateful for what we do. And to think, for most of us it's as simple as turning down that one Starbucks coffee or putting down that extra skein of yarn in order to donate a couple dollars to the cause. These "couple dollars" add up so quickly and truly help save lives. Check out this video to see a little about what we're trying to do here. We are trying to make a difference in the lives of amazing kids like Ollie.


This time of year, I think it's really important to be grateful for everything we have. I think we often get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of everything that we forget the simple things in life. This holiday season, I just ask that you remember the real reason for the holidays and enjoy it.

If in the spirit of the season you're interested in donating to this incredible cause, please feel free to check out my donation page: www.helpmakemiracles.org/participant/smason . I definitely appreciate it, and I know the kids do as well…more than I can even express.


I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

1 comment:

SissySees said...

Sniffle, sniffle...

Tugged at my heartstrings for reasons you can't imagine. I toured Children's as part of my orientation at Trinity. I still remember the time spent there as though it was yesterday.