Guest Blog- Carrie Dattels

I promised to do this months ago, but I’ve been putting it off. It’s not that I don’t want to share, I’m just not certain what I should share. We are still searching for an answer to Jillian’s medical problems. Medicine is not an exact science until, I suppose, you get to genetic testing, which …

Student Blog- Libby Rieman “18K Day”

I had a revelation tonight. I’ve always known I dance for something bigger, for something more than myself, but tonight when we raised $18,000 in one day and then broke $100,000, it hit me. I was writing a letter to my parents and I had this moment and I just knew why it was all …

Guest Blog-Peltier Family

11 years ago, we found out we were expecting and I was so excited. I was very sick throughout the whole pregnancy. In and out of the hospital. At 14 weeks, I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome which basically hit the major organs in the mother the only way to cure it …

Student Blog-Caitie Kieser

Hi hi!! My name is Caitie Kieser and I am a Junior at Hope studying Social Work. Asking me to write only one short blog about Dance Marathon and include every piece that I love and every way I have been impacted would quite literally be impossible. I would need more of a 20 part …

Guest Blog- Amy Berarducci

Would I ever wish for our family (or any family) to go through what we did?…Absolutely not. Do I think it changed us for the better as human beings?…Absolutely Mia’s story started when she was 1.5 years old (2005).  She was having trouble walking, frequently falling more than a typical toddler, eye movements, screaming and …

Guest Blog- Sam Starks

The Fear of Fundraising “I just don’t like asking people for money.” The single thought suffocating our mind when we think about fundraising. But this thought only touches the surface of the one major dilemma holding us back. We struggle with one thing: what other people think about us. The good thing is that the …

Student Blog- Gina Schierbeek

Hi! I’m Gina Schierbeek, and I’m a junior here at Hope College. I’m studying a Management major with an Art minor. Of the many things that I love about being a student at Hope Col, Dance Marathon has got to be at the top. I began my love of DM my freshman year, when I …

Student Blog-Mikayla Hubley

“I have had so much fun this week, I forgot I had arthritis”. It’s words like these, from sweet children who are battling illness, that inspire me to be a part of Dance Marathon. It was at the event where I discovered my passion to care for children and families who are struggling with serious …

Student Blog-Rachel VanZytveld

Hello! My name is Rachel VanZytveld and I am a junior at Hope College. Here, I study Special Education with an emphasis on Learning Disabilities.  It is the best time of the year again; Dance Marathon is back in action and ready to roll! I first began as a dancer for Dance Marathon in March …

Student Blog-Abby Veldink

Hi! My name is Abby Veldink and I am a junior at Hope. Here, I study special education with the hope of working with students with behavior disorders or autism. My passion for people with special needs stems from growing up with two sisters with disabilities and complex medical needs. I have seen life out …