UK students raise more than $1.8 million in record-breaking DanceBlue marathon

After 24 sleepless hours at this year’s DanceBlue, University of Kentucky students learned Sunday night their fundraising efforts brought in $1,880,954.88 to fight childhood cancer.

The money brought in by the students set a record for the event. The amounts raised by the marathon have steadily increased each year since the first event in 2006. In 2018, students raised $1,804,068.77, according to the DanceBlue website.

This weekend’s event, which was held at Memorial Coliseum from 8 p.m. Saturday to about 8 p.m. Sunday, was the fourteenth annual DanceBlue. About 1,000 UK students participated in the 24-hour dance marathon without sitting or sleeping for the duration of the event.

The proceeds from the dance marathon go toward the Golden Matrix Fund, which benefits the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology/ Oncology Clinic. Since the first marathon in 2006, the event has raised more than $15 million to fight children’s cancer.

With funds from DanceBlue, the new hematology and oncology clinic was opened in 2017.

This story was originally published March 3, 2019 at 8:06 PM.