Cal Poly students’ legitimate excuse to dance until 4 a.m.

February 27, 2014

By LAUREN SHARABIANLOU

Cal Poly students grooved in a dance marathon that ran from 9 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. on Sunday, raising money for the Hopeful Hearts Foundation.

“I’m going to dance for 10 hours straight, obviously”, Cal Poly student Moorea Donahue said.

The Hopeful Hearts Club and Beta Theta Pi hosted a 10-hour Dance Marathon to benefit congenital heart defects research. One in 100 children are born with a congenital defect, according to the Hopeful Hearts Foundation. It is the number one cause of death in children under the age of five worldwide.

Adam and Terra Chez founded Hopeful Hearts Foundation after the loss of their daughter, Gracie, from a congenital heart defect. The foundation raises awareness of congenital heart defects, and the Hopeful Hearts Club at Cal Poly put on the Dance Marathon to donate to this foundation.

“I know students who have raised up to 200 dollars per person,” Hopeful Hearts Club member Michael Ray said. “Our rent production company is donating over 10,000 dollars worth of time and equipment in order to make this show happen.

Seven different DJ’s were hired to perform throughout the night, all ranging in styles of techno.

“We’ve got house, pop-house, deep-house, trance, techno, and the later it gets the more people we expect to see coming out on the dance floor,” Ray said.

Hopeful Hearts provided dancers with pizza, punch, waters, and plenty of energy drinks to stay hydrated and most importantly, dance on.

“I’m pretty sure after 4 a.m. I’m going to keep dancing after I get home,” said an enthusiastic Cal Poly student.