Ohio State students gather together to raise $1,510,036.39 for the kids this BuckeyeThon

BuckeyeThon is the largest student-run philanthropy organization in the state of Ohio. With the ultimate goal of ending childhood cancer, BuckeyeThon focuses on children being treated in the Hematology/Oncology/BMT Unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. BuckeyeThon members, Ohio State students, faculty and staff, and the community of Columbus residents participate in events throughout the year which culminate in a Dance Marathon. Through BuckeyeThon, Ohio State students have the opportunity to pay it forward and to change the lives of children fighting cancer.

On the evening of February 10, thousands of Buckeyes gathered in The Ohio Union to begin the 24-hour dance marathon. Following the National Anthem, the community shared a moment of silence to mourn the loss of Ohio State student, Reagan Tokes.

During the Opening Ceremony, Buckeyes heard from various faculty members, students, and survivors.

“We have the motto that every kid deserves the chance to be a Buckeye. I think that is a wonderful thing,” said Ohio State President Michael Drake. He continued, stating that he had the opportunity to speak to Reagan’s father earlier that afternoon. During that conversation, her father expressed Reagan’s desire to be a Buckeye and apart of the Ohio State community since she was five-years-old. He recalled his years in medical practice and said that under these circumstances, a cancer diagnosis or death, the question that often arises is, “Why the bad fortune?” In order to reflect on our lives and the world we live in, he shared the following poem:

While we are sleeping, a pain that we cannot forgive falls. Drop by drop, upon the heart. Until, in our despair, and against our own will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.

“We don’t know the mystery of the universe or why things happen. What we know is that we are given the gift of life and that we are able to learn things and grow through things. Some wonderful, and other things, some painful. And those things make us the people we are,” explained Drake. He concluded in saying by participating in the marathon, “we focus on circumstances that others might be facing that are more challenging than ours.”

Ohio State student Corinne Perry followed Drake, and shared why she decided to get involved in BuckeyeThon. At the age of four, her 7-year-old sister was diagnosed with cancer. “[The diagnosis] had an effect on our entire family,” said Perry. She recognized that the children for whom we fundraise might have gone through a similar, or worse, scenario. “I wanted to do everything in my power to help children not have to go through all of the forms of pain and struggle that you do when you deal with cancer.”

She expressed her desire for children in the future to have a different outcome: “Because of the fundraising and hard work that we have all done, children will have the chance to be a Buckeye . . . I believe that each and every one of us has been artfully driven to this cause by a higher power because we have the ability, strength, and heart to put everything we have toward something that is so much bigger than us.”

Over the course of the next twelve-hours, we cried, danced, and laughed with one another while participating in various activities including tutu making and rave hour. We were also able to watch performances from a number of different clubs and organizations such as Ohio State Drumline and Jump Rope Club. After an intense 5:00AM dodgeball game, students reconvened in the Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom for closing (Scarlet Shift) ceremonies.

President of BuckeyeThon and cancer survivor Anthony Stranges began the ceremony by thanking participants for their hard work over the past year and for “what [the participants] will continue to do for BuckeyeThon in the years to come.”

Amanda Dove, staff member at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, asked students to remember the number 38 in representation of the 38 kids on the 12th floor at Nationwide Children’s Hospital who have also been up all night because they are sick and cannot sleep because they have poison coursing thorough their veins and are fighting for their lives.

The final speaker of Scarlet Shift was Anna Cox (18) who was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of sixteen. At the duration of her treatment, Ana’s doctor told her about BuckeyeThon. She said, “I knew that after all Nationwide did for me, this was just something that I could do for them.” In a month, Anna will be two-years cancer free. She is back to attending school full-time and intends to graduate this May. She plans to attend the University of Kentucky and pursue a career in Nursing. Anna left participants with a final thought, “Always remain for the kids because it’s really making a difference in lives.”

Together we raised $1,510,036.39. One day we will dance in celebration, until then we will dance for a cure. No kid deserves to have cancer but every kid deserves the chance to be a Buckeye.