March 4, 2017, was the absolute best day of the year. Why is that? Because is was the day that Soonerthon took place at the University of Oklahoma.
What is Soonerthon?
Soonerthon is a 12-hour dance marathon that students at the University of Oklahoma put together in order to raise money for the local Children's Hospital Foundation.
That money goes towards making sure families can stay in Oklahoma and not travel to get the care their child needs, getting the best doctors to care for the children, medical equipment, and research.
Except Soonerthon is more than the money we raise. Their slogan is FTK: for the kids. We are FTK because everything we do is for the kids. Soonerthon is all about celebrating our sweet miracle families and allowing their children to have a day to just be a normal kid. The kids get to hang out with college students, have fun at a carnival and participate in a talent show. We get the opportunity to make the children and their families feel loved and special because they are and they deserve to know how incredible they are.
This year, I had the honor of being on the Soonerthon executive team as an Ambassador. My job as an Ambassador was mainly to raise as much money as I could for the kids. The group I was blessed to be a part of was responsible for keeping track of donation boxes around the Norman area, teaching participants how to fundraise, promote Soonerthon and think of innovative ways to raise more money leading up to the day of and on the day of Soonerthon.
I absolutely loved being a part of Soonerthon this year. I got to meet some incredible OU students that basically became another family to me and the incredible miracle families. It is literally life changing to hear the miracle families stories and see how brave and strong they are. Their child could be fighting for their life, but they never lose hope. They never stop fighting, which is absolutely incredible. The families seriously inspired me to keep pushing and giving all of my effort to raising more money for them.
The day of Soonerthon was incredible. I cannot even begin to describe the emotions that ran through my head. I was physically and emotionally drained, but it was all so worth it when I saw the smiles of sweet kiddos and their families. It was honestly the best day ever. I was running on no sleep, but I would go back and do it all over again.
At the end of the day, the numbers dropped and I could not have been more proud of my university. We raised $808,021.17 for the kids. Those numbers represent so much more than money. It represents lives changed, and I am so glad I got to play an extremely small part of that.
Thank you to everyone who helped and supported Soonerthon this year. It means the absolute world to me. I cannot wait to see what kind of miracles happen at Soonerthon 2018!
Here is a recap video of the day of to get you pumped for next year:
