HuskyTHON 2010

The HuskyTHON began officially at 6pm on February 22, 2010. The patient were given a dinner at 5 to celebrate the HuskyTHON. As always the students did an amazing job! There were over 600 dancers, over 100 volunteers, great coordinators, many sponsors and I believe 30 patient families (I could be wrong... very hard to keep track of all the numbers). The students are not allowed to sit for 18 hours, 6pm -12pm. The dancing started at 6 and the music only stopped for a family or an announcement.

When we walked in there was a line of students clapping for our little Becca. They do such an amazing job making the kids feel so special. Becca and Adam were given badges with their names. I have to fight with Adam every nap and bed time to take it off! He loves the badge and did a much better job wearing it then Becca did. The coordinators created a spirit dance that was done every hour. It was a medley of great songs that Becca and Adam loved. They had all kinds of bouncy houses, basketball, board game tables, and many other activities for the kids and the students to do. Jonathon the Husky made an appearance. Becca and Adam loved him! I would have to remind them that other kids wanted to play with him. He's a great dog! Becca hung out with her buddy President Hogan and for the second time made it into his blog.

Just to give you an idea about how much the HusyTHON has grown, last year Becca's sponsors, Pi Phi had 30 dancers. This year Pi Phi had 50 dancers. The girls did a wonderful job wrangling Becca. They followed her and helped her do any activity she wanted. I have to give those girls credit, you need a lot of energy to keep up with Becca1 They did a fantastic job! THANK YOU Pi Phi!

We stayed till 11pm on Saturday. The kids were exhausted. Becca fell asleep before we were even out of the parking garage, Adam was a different story. I think he was over stimulated. Both Adam and Becca loved playing basketball and many times Becca would disappear. I would find her dancing on stage! She was in Heaven!

Becca and I came back early Sunday Morning. As soon as Becca woke up , I got her dressed and put her in the car. We made a quick stop to get coffee and got back on the road to get back to UCONN. We got there around 9am. I have to say that there was a big difference in the energy level from when we left to when we got back. You could tell they were getting tired, but the hung in there. I noticed that as soon as they started seeing more kids come back the energy level picked up!

Becca found her way back to the stage on Sunday Morning and it was quite a sight to see. I had tears in my eyes. She was dancing on stage by herself and the students gathered around the stage, chanting her name and cheering her on! I hope this is a memory she will never forget! I know I won't! I told Becca's story Sunday morning. I have to say that I was very excited to learn the final number that the students raised for CT Children's. DRUM ROLL PLEASE.........................

The grand total was $150,228.00! They beat last years number by just over $42,000! I am very proud of everyone! Big shout outs to Andrew, Julie, Brianna and many others for there hard work to put together the HuskyTHON! They did an incredible job. On behalf of Becca and the other patients. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I am very honored and proud to have been a small part of this event. We can not wait until next year!