Meet Whitney Broghammer and Amanda Howard, two students actively involved in Dance Marathon at the University of Northern Iowa. These two decided to take their dedication to the next level by stripping down and showing that children’s illnesses are a big topic that needs to be talked about. And due to these two, along with Phil Adams and an electric razor, they sparked a conversation.
The University of Northern Iowa has been participating in Dance Marathon (DM) for nine years and every year they consistently raise more and more money. While many members are content with simply surpassing their fundraising goal, these two girls believed that they could do more than just raise money. They wanted to raise awareness and they did this by completely shaving their heads in front of hundreds of fellow dancers.
Whitney Broghammer and Amanda Howard were two of the three people that decided to shave their head that day. But the decision was nowhere near an impulse. Both of the girls decided months ago that they were going to shave their heads to show their passion for the cause, but their involvement with Dance Marathon goes back many years.
It was April 27, 2013, when Whitney received the life changing news that her three-year-old nephew, Gavin, had been diagnosed with acute ALL leukemia. “Ever since that day I haven’t known a life without cancer. It changed my life in an instant,” Broghammer reminisces. That fall Whitney became a freshman at UNI and joined Dance Marathon. While Whitney stayed involved with DM, Gavin stayed involved with the Iowa Children’s Hospitals, where he was treated from the day he was diagnosed. Whitney, now a junior, is happy with her progress both with DM and with her nephew. Whitney was a successful morale captain this year, but the even bigger success is her nephew. Gavin, now 6 years old, is in remission and will be finished with treatment this coming August.
The Iowa Children’s Hospitals also holds a special place to Amanda Howard who has been involved with DM for five years and is the Co-Director for UNI Dance Marathon. Amanda started her freshman year because she liked the idea of it, her friends were involved and she was a dancer. Joining was almost a no brainer. As her college career continued, her younger sister, Sara, started to develop health issues. What started out as hives turned into what doctors originally thought were heart problems. When her sister started passing out they knew that this was something more serious. After many tests, she was diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). POTS is a very rare autoimmune disease where her body is constantly fighting itself. Sara is now a freshman at Iowa State University and continues to battle her disorder. While she retrains her brain to function normally, she continues to get treatment from the Iowa Children’s Hospitals. Through the whole experience her sister’s illness allowed Amanda to “run with her inspiration and the kids just made her fall more in love” with Dance Marathon.
Fast forward to preparation for this year’s big event and both girls were anxiously anticipating the fundraising outcomes and looking for a way to show their devoted dedication to the cause. Whitney had donated 14 inches of her hair at the previous event and loved the reaction. So for her 21st birthday in February, Whitney created #21hundredsfor21years. If she was able to raised $2,100 by her 21st birthday she decided to show her ultimate dedication for the children and the event by completing shaving her head in front of a crowd. While she was just shy of reaching her goal by her birthday, she managed to raise $1,200 in a span of 12 hours over night and was thrilled to say that she was going to shave her head.
Amanda’s decision had a very similar goal-oriented mindset. She started with little rewards for certain dollar amounts along the way to her goal. After wearing a giraffe suit on campus she knew she had to up the ante. She concluded that if she raised $5,000 she would shave her head. The goal for the kiddos was the ultimate motivator but Amanda’s grandma is currently battling cancer. When she presented her idea to her grandma, who would soon be bald herself, her grandma responded "If you do this and don’t wear a wig in public then neither will I,” and with that Amanda was convinced it was the right thing to do. “My hair will grow back, these kiddos have gone through so much,” Howard said.
It was March 5, 2016, and both girls had reached their goals. The two girls waited backstage with their fellow dancer Phil Adams, for the three of them to shave their heads. Amanda, being the first to go, was shaking and nervous while they put her hair into a ponytail. The big honor was then started with a long embrace from her sister before Sara began cutting her ponytail off. Sara then proceeded to shave every last lock of Amanda’s hair off, with Whitney holding Amanda’s hand the whole time and Amanda overflowing with emotions. “I was proud. I am very proud,” Howard said.
Whitney’s turn was next. Her original decision to shave her head seemed controversial to some, but Whitney was more than excited to shave her head than anything else. She chose her young nephew to cut her ponytail and then with a hug from Gavin and a squeeze from Amanda’s hand, Whitney's sister Emily began to shave her head. “You’re Beautiful" by James Blunt played over the speakers. It’s safe to say that there wasn’t a dry eye as the crowd burst into song, singing along for Whitney and the other two brave souls showing their love for this cause. Brogrammer states, “I think everyone should experience shaving their head. Everyone should do something so much bigger than themselves that it scares them.”
When both girls were done, they finished with a long embrace and felt each other’s new bald heads.
Their act in itself was emotional, but the gesture has gone further than that night. Whitney’s video of her shaving experience has gotten thousands of Facebook views and both girls laugh about the looks and comments they got their first day back at classes hairless. While the reactions from their peers have been positive, the love they have gotten from their kiddos was the most rewarding. “Kids came up right after [I shaved my head] telling me how beautiful I was,” Amanda said.
While both girls took different paths to get to their bald heads, one trait was extremely apparent: their passion and love for this cause radiated out of their freshly shaven heads. “DM is never over and the fight is never done,” Broghammer said to emphasize the importance of this cause. Howard said, “Everything I do is for the kids. People don’t realize how special these kids are. They are our heroes. They are making everything better. They need more attention.” Their passion for UNI DM will never diminish even while new developments for children are discovered. They will always be hoping for more support, more awareness, and an ultimate goal of eliminating all severe children’s illnesses.
Through this whole process Whitney and Amanda requested that three facts be reiterated and screamed from a mountain: 1. Nothing could ever be done without the drive and support from all the wonderful dancers. They are the reason any of this is possible. 2. Phil Adams doesn’t get as much credit for shaving his head because he is a boy, but his dedication is remarkable. 3. They want to raise awareness about this cause and why it’s important. This needs to be talked about and we have the power to do something about it.
If you are inspired by their actions and would like to help, donations are still being accepted until April, Click here to donate!
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