Ole Miss students dance during the RebelTHON dance marathon in the Student Union. The annual event raised more than $185,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Mississippi. Photo by Logan Kirkland/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
OXFORD, Miss. – RebelTHON 2021 exceeded its fundraising goal this year for the patients at the Children’s Hospital of Mississippi.
The University of Mississippi‘s annual student-driven dance marathon raised $185,002.03 for the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital of Mississippi, a pediatric care facility that is part of the Children’s Miracle Network hospitals.
The event ran from noon to midnight March 6 in the Gertrude C. Ford Ole Miss Student Union. The slogan for this year’s event was “We Are Still Dancing.”
“Words cannot begin to express the pride, joy, gratitude and excitement we experienced when we announced our total at midnight,” said Will Takewell, associate director for student leadership and engagement. “In total, we had over 1,000 students participate in fundraising.
“We also had more than 450 students attend one of the four shifts of RebelTHON throughout our 12-hour time frame.”
RebelTHON is an annual student-driven dance marathon to raise funds for Children’s of Mississippi, which includes the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital at the UM Medical Center. Photo by Logan Kirkland/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
This year, rather than placing a number on the fundraising goal, sponsors focused on strengthening their cause connection.
“I am honored and proud of RebelTHON throughout this difficult year,” said Brianna Chambers, RebelTHON president and a senior biology major from East Bend, North Carolina. “We have overcome so much, but we never lost focus of why we are committed.
“We are truly doing this for the kids and their future success. RebelTHON has been the best thing I have gotten involved with over my four years at the university and I can walk away as a student knowing that we gave it our all.”
The money raised over the past four years – more than $750,000 – has contributed to the new Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower at UMMC, which was unveiled in October 2020. The student donations from RebelTHON have made a significant dent in the cost of the pediatric care facility.