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OttoTHON goes virtual, still raises $120,000 for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital OttoTHON goes virtual, still raises $120,000

By Jonathan Danilich

Jonathan Danilich: Syracuse University’s OttoTHON, which raises money for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital has been going on since 2015. Traditionally halfway through the event, students walk from the dance floor to the hospital. This year, the parking lot behind me was left empty, but the dancing and fundraising still went on using computers. Dancer Relations Chair Chris Bezdedeanu said that this years’ event was full of challenges, but it was all worth it in the end.

Bezdedeanu: “There were times when it got pretty complicated to understand or realize how we were going to be able to have our event. Our constant communication about the vision we had was key to having a successful event.

Danilich: Despite being held on zoom, OttoTHON raised over $120,000 this year, a total that Upstate Golisano’s Danielle LaTour called surreal.

LaTour: “Seeing how motivated the students were and the amount of miracles they were making in such a short amount of time is truly inspirational. It goes through your head that ‘I’m truly making a difference, what I’m doing right now is going to impact so many people, and I just felt lucky to be a part of it.”

Danilich: Both Bezdedeanu and LaTour encouraged Syracuse University students to sign up and fundraise with OttoTHON next year, now hopefully that event will be in person, but this year’s virtual event exceeded all expectations and made some miracles, as LaTour said, for the kids. Jonathan Danilich, NCC News.

Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News)– OttoTHON made some miracles again this year, raising over $120,000 for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. The event, a dance marathon that has been held since 2015,  is usually held on a crowded dance floor on campus, but it was forced online this year due to COVID-19. Going online, however, did not stop the dancing and fundraising.

More than 300 dedicated dancers participated, averaging around $400 raised per dancer. “We were looking at the numbers, and they just kept climbing and climbing,” Upstate Golisano’s Danielle LaTour said. “Seeing how motivated the students were and the amount of miracles they were making in such a short amount of time is truly inspirational.”

The event faced many challenges, according to OttoTHON’s Dancer Relations Chair Chris Bezdedeanu. “There were times when it got pretty complicated to understand or realize how we were going to be able to have our event.” But everyone who was involved with putting the event together pulled through. “Our constant communication about the vision we had was key to having a successful event,” said Bezdedeanu.

OttoTHON Staff Prepare for the 2021 Event

Last year, OttoTHON raised over $200,000 and over 700 dancers signed up. This year, with all the challenges of navigating an event during COVID-19 and going online, with less than half the amount of dancers, OttoTHON still raised over $120,000.

Each year, at the end of the event, OttoTHON reveals the amount that was raised by holding signs up, one digit at a time, until the full amount is shown. “Waiting for everyone to hold their signs up was the longest five seconds of my life,” Bezdedeanu said. When he number was revealed, there was one word going that could describe his feelings: “proud.”

Upstate Golisano was touched by the support students gave to OttoTHON, especially in a year like this one. “To have (the students) be so positive and face all the adversity they had with this event, and to still pull it off in such a phenomenal way, I was just blown away by that.”

Bezdedeanu and LaTour encourage students at SU who didn’t participate this year to sign up to dance and fundraise with OttoTHON next year, to make more miracles “for the kids”.

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