The sights are set high at raising half a million dollars for charity, but UCF students — for the 19th year — will dance together to try and make it happen For the Kids.
Knight-Thon, UCF’s annual Dance Marathon benefiting Greater Orlando Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, will bring together over 1,000 Knights from 70+ organizations to stand for 20 hours ‘For the Kids’.
This year, students aim to raise $500,000.
At just six-years-old, Chris Hixon — now Knight-Thon’s event operations director — received a terrifying diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer that’s often fatal.
For the next two and a half years, Hixon underwent a variety of procedures at South Florida children’s hospital and fortunately, has been in remission for hte past 15 years.
“I can relate to them on a different level. I’ve been there – I’ve lived in a hospital, I know what it’s like,” Hixon said. “There were times I was very scared, but because of the caring doctors and all the people by my side, I never felt alone.”
The opening ceremonies begin at 10:45 a.m. on March 28 and the event ends at 6:30 a.m. the following morning. Last year, Knight-Thon managed to raise $392,831.65 benefiting Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies, and Shands Hospital for Children.
KnightNews.com will be LIVE streaming this event. Check back next weekend for video of the dancing as it happens!
