This past Saturday, Feb. 24, East Hall was filled with music, students, dancers and families celebrating the “Rock the Dot: Warriorthon” event.

This fundraiser was led by Warriors For The Kids, a campus club that raises money and supports Children Miracle Network Hospitals.

The “Warriorthon” began several years ago with the Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) club on campus. This was the fourth year of the event, which has become more successful each year. Last year, there were 91 registered dancers, and this year there were 150 that came to raise money for Children Miracle Network Hospitals.

Aurea Osgood, the advisor for Warriors For The Kids, shared that other college campuses that also have groups that support these Children Miracle Network Hospitals participate in each other’s dance events.

“While our event involves mostly Winona State students, we have some from University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and Viterbo University,” Osgood said. “We go to each other’s events to see what they did and what worked, and to show our support for each other.”

The Warriors For The Kids club at Winona State works with Gunderson Hospital in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Each year, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals select five children called ‘Children’s Miracle Network Hospital Heroes,’ to show what these kids are capable of and what this money goes to. This year, four Hero families came to the Warriorthon, one from last year, Willa Krase, and three from this year, Sophie Bisek, Madelyn Payne and Blake Oldham.

The goals of fundraisers like these is to raise money to help local children with varying medical needs and their families.

Each of these Heroes have different needs that the funds from these events can help support. Osgood gave more information about how this money is spent.

“All of our money raised will help local children and families,” Osgood said. “While we do not get to pick how the money is spent, here are a couple of possibilities: sending Sophie to diabetes camp where she can learn how to manage her diabetes, buying a special food processor for Blake who is fed through a feeding tube or an adaptive wheelchair for Madelyn since she does not walk.”

The event itself was an eight-hour dance marathon to support these kids and families. Throughout the event there were groups that came in and gave performances, items that people could purchase, food and a “morale dance” that was choreographed by the members of Warriors For The Kids that was taught to the registered dancers throughout the event.

Some groups that made appearances at the event include Hear and Now, Winona State’s a capella group, Winona State’s Ballroom Dance Club and SG Danceworkz, a local studio that brought in a few dance groups to perform at the event.

As of 9 p.m. on Saturday night, the Warriorthon had raised $11,656 to give to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Over the past four years including this event, they have raised $31,595 to the hospitals.

After the success of this event, Warriors For The Kids look forward to doing this event again next year and continuing to support these children and families.