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Eighteen hours is a long time to dance, but UofL students are ready to make the commitment to try and raise $550,000 for pediatric cancer research. 

There members of raiseRED’s executive board — Morgan Tallio, AJ Walters and Dulci Gurley — took the time to talk to UofL News about why they dance. 

Morgan Tallio

Tallio has been in the raiseRED community for the past three years, and has served as a dancer, team leader and programming director.

“To me, raiseRED is a community of college students that care more than anybody that I have met in my life and it’s really crazy because a lot of people see college students as really selfish. But seeing people come together for such an amazing cause, like pediatric cancer, means more to me that I could ever explain,” she said. “Dancing for 18 hours of my life can can help save a child’s life and cure pediatric cancer … it is the least I can do.” 

AJ Walters 

Walters, this year’s Public Outreach Coordinator, has been with the raiseRED team for the past three years, serving as a dancer for the past two years. For Walters, the event is way to support the local and national community through raising awareness and funds for research.

“I wanted to find a philanthropy that I could really support and get behind at UofL. I’ve tried multiple avenues, and I really found my home at raiseRED,” he said. 

Dulci Gurley

Gurley has worked with raiseRED for the past four yeasr, as a dance, morale captain and morale coordinator (this year). She said she is emotionally invested in the cause.

“When the numbers go up (at the end of the marathon) your breath catches in your throat and you see you hit your goal and all the hard work you put in all year pays off. It’s the most intense feeling of pride and excitement that you could ever experience and then you immediately start sobbing,” she said. “It’s more that this 18-hour event that happens once a year. It’s really this cool opportunity to see all these UofL students caring a whole lot make the biggest difference.”