Thunderthon is GC Miracle’s biggest event of the year where GCSU students learn a six minute dance over the course of eight hours in order to raise money for the local children’s hospital, Beverly Knight Olson. On Saturday, April 5, in the Centennial Center, any student can attend Thunderthon by registering for $15 (or $3 using the discount code “SBRK”) and then raise an additional $55 through donations from others or themselves.
I and others believe that the heart of Thunderthon’s cause is raising money for the children over at BKO, the nearest children’s hospital to GCSU.
“Seeing everyone who has been fundraising all year long in the same room fighting for a cause greater than themselves is truly the most special feeling,” said Sara Goodelman, Student Engagement Program coordinator and GC Miracle’s on-campus advisor.
The children and families at BKO who are healthy enough to attend Thunderthon do so to share their story, explaining how GC Miracle and Thunderthon have impacted them and their chances to have a healthy childhood.
“It is such a sweet moment to be with the kids we fight so hard for to have a better future and the chance to be a kid again,” said Abigail Lee, a junior psychology major and executive director of GC Miracle.
Each hour a family shares the story of their child which is a sentimental moment that is shared with everyone. Some of the families stay throughout the entire event and spend time with everyone in attendance.
“Over the last three years, there have been many sweet moments shared with the kids, but my favorite is getting into a dance battle with Cassius Finch [one of the BKO kids],” Lee said. “Cassius is not afraid to show he’s got some groove, and his joy is contagious.”
The GC Miracle team has seen a huge impact on BKO from the donations received.
“With the fundraising, Miracle was able to donate enough money to have an activity room built at BKO,” Goodelman said. “The activity room is a space in the hospital that allows kids receiving treatment to escape the hospital walls. It’s filled with toys, arts and crafts, technology, games and anything else that makes a kid feel like a kid.”
Thunderthon is not only an opportunity to give to the local children but also a great way to make friends, explore an organization at GCSU and have a super fun day dancing.
GC Miracle’s Morale team is made up of 21 students who take time out of every week starting in January to learn the dance. They are split into groups of two and each group teaches one minute of the dance to the participants on the day of Thunderthon.
“Morale leaders help teach the dance that participants learn during Thunderthon,” said Emily Tipsword, a senior psychology major and director of the Morale team. “Think like a 6-minute long TikTok dance that is broken up into 6 sections taught over the span of 6 hours.”
The mashup dance is fun but without the right group of people to be on stage and teach it, things could quickly become chaotic. The Morale team takes pride in choosing their morale leaders to be exciting and outgoing people.
“I would describe morale as a group of people who have a fire, a burning passion for what we are doing,” said Cater Hewitt, a junior exercise science major and a Morale team leader.
Besides learning the six-minute dance, there are fun games to play in between, pizza to eat for lunch, a snack and GC Miracle merch to buy. It is an absolute blast.
“You receive a t-shirt, a meal and I believe there are some prizes you can receive according to the amount of money raised,” Hewitt said. “If you have a passion and desire to be there, it’s definitely worth your money and time.”
The GC Miracle team is bringing much more excitement with this year’s Thunderthon, introducing activities that they’ve never done before.
“This year, we are going to have a huge inflatable obstacle course there that anyone can use,” Tipsword said. “We also will be doing Zumba like we have in the past. To find out what else we will have, you just have to be there!”
GC Miracle challenges participants the day of Thunderthon to stay standing for the duration of the eight hour event to honor the past, present and future children at BKO who aren’t able to stand.
I was a participant for the very first time and last year. Thunderthon that year was a 12 hour event where I stood the whole time, so in comparison to that, eight hours should be easy.
My favorite part of Thunderthon last year would be hard to narrow down to just one thing. I got to make new friends, play four square, eat a pina colada Kona Ice and sing karaoke on stage with my best friends. All of these things combined make for my favorite parts of Thunderthon, having fun all while giving money, time and effort towards a worthy cause.
“One thing that happens every year and is my favorite part: At the end of the event, Miracle does a total reveal,” Goodelman said. “The total reveal is very powerful because this is when all of the fundraising is done, and everyone gets to see all the money being donated to the kids at BKO.”
Each year, Thunderthon introduces a new theme which decides what kind of songs will be used to make the dance and which decorations GC Miracle will put up. This year’s theme is the Olympics and GC Miracle is “Going for the Gold,” setting a record-high goal for donations at $100,000.
Along with the Olympics theme, GC Miracle has a campaign for this year’s Thunderthon: “Cool to Care.”
“‘It’s cool to care’ is something I just started saying to get people to donate a few years back,” Lee said. “But now, it’s become my own motto for Miracle and has become this year’s slogan.”
With Abigail Lee being one of my roommates and closest friends, I remember the first time I heard her say “It’s cool to care” with a huge smile on her face. I think that genuinely depicts how exciting and cool it is to care and support the children at BKO.
Everyone should come out for Thunderthon to support and celebrate the children at BKO who need our help.