These are the ingredients that make up raiseRED, the University of Louisville’s largest student-run philanthropy that has raised over $4.7 million for pediatric cancer and blood disorders research and patient support since 2013.

“Fight Like a Kid” is the theme of this year’s raiseRED, which will be held Friday through Saturday, Feb. 23-24, at the Swain Student Activities Center Ballroom.

raiseRED is a dance marathon that benefits UofL’s Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute outpatient clinic. Participants raise a minimum of $200 per person to participate, with many raising even more.

“Every dollar fundraised for raiseRED goes directly to either research for pediatric oncology or to the patients themselves,” Emilia Perez, a UofL student who was diagnosed with lymphoma in high school, said. “Everything we raise is going to benefit someone personally.”

The event kicks off at 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 23, and culminates with the big reveal of total dollars raised at the Community Celebration from 10:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Feb. 24.

In between, students will kick up their heels. To keep up their spirits – and help keep their eyes open – several mini-themed events are held during raiseRED. Among them are:

• Buzz for the Cure: A long-standing raiseRED tradition, students pledge to shave their head, or do a major chop, during the dance marathon if they reach their fundraising goal.
• Angel Hour: The people in participants’ lives who have been impacted by cancer and blood disorders are recognized and remembered.��
• Mail Call: Letters of support from participants’ loved ones are read to cheer them on.
• Silent Disco: The speaker system goes silent and participants wear headphones to hear and dance to music only they can hear.

It’s the cause of helping others battling cancer and giving second chances that is the core of the effort, said Sophie Doszak, a junior at UofL.

Doszak was swabbed by the during raiseRED in 2022 and received the call last year that she had matched with a leukemia patient.��

“I would not have donated without raiseRED,” Doszak said. “Seeing the impact that you can have on someone’s life made me wish I had gotten on the donor list a long time ago. Most of the time it takes years to finally match with someone, and I was lucky enough to match with someone and give my gift of life to someone who needed another chance at life.”

The event will be beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. For information and to donate,

UofL’s largest student-run philanthropy once again hit it out of the park.

raiseRED, an annual dance marathon that benefits UofL’s Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute outpatient clinic, generated more than $551,000 Feb. 24-25. This brings the cumulative total raised over the 10-year history of the event to more than $4.6 million.

Participants raise a minimum of $200 per person to participate, with many raising even more.

The 18-hour event featured dancing and a few other events-within-the event, such as:

• Buzz for the Cure: A long-standing raiseRED tradition, students pledge to shave their head, or do a major chop, during the dance marathon if they reach their fundraising goal.
• Angel Hour: The people in participants’ lives who have been impacted by cancer and blood disorders are recognized and remembered.��
• Mail Call: Letters of support from participants’ loved ones are read to cheer them on.
• Neon Silent Disco: The speaker system goes silent and participants wear headphones to��dance to music only they can hear.
• And new this year: The Hypnotic Experience. Hypnotist ‘TG’ Rivers will tap participants to be hypnotized to entertain the crowd.

It’s the cause, however, of battling childhood cancer and blood disorders that is the core of the effort, said raiseRED Executive Director Valerie Tran, a senior majoring in industrial engineering.

“raiseRED is a year-long effort to help children with cancer and blood disorders in the Louisville area, and I’m so humbled to see the courage these kids show,” Tran said. “I know what we are doing and the funds we raise can make a difference in the lives of these children and their families every day.”

raiseRED has long been a signature UofL event, with more than 1,000 students raising money to fight pediatric cancer during the 18-hour dance marathon and other events during the year. Thus far, the organization has raised nearly $3 million.��

Students are passionate about the cause, often spending their entire college careers volunteering. That passion has continued for many long after graduation and, in fact, a new raiseRED Alumni Council was formally created in the fall of 2019 to connect UofL’s alumni community with current participants.

The objective: To advocate for and advance the mission and vision of raiseRED while providing volunteer mentoring, financial and community support.��

UofL News recently sat down with Alumni Council Chairman Austin Schwenker to find out more about this new group, and what makes raiseRED so special to keep people involved long after graduation.��

UofL News: How many members of the alumni council are there and what are their duties?

Schwenker: Current active membership is around 30 to 40 people who live locally in Louisville, around the commonwealth, and throughout the U.S. and Abroad. The duties may better align with the goals of our council; the most important being a connection and network for members to stay involved and advocate for the advancement of the overall RaiseRED mission and vision. By bringing together a collective group with similar collegiate experiences and passions, our thought is that we can create a greater impact in our communities.

UofL News: Who can join the council?

Schwenker:��Membership is open to anyone recognized as an alumni by the office of alumni relations whether they have direct experience with ULDM or RaiseRED — although many and most current members are prior dancers, team leaders, morale captains and eboard members.

UofL News: There are a lot of fundraisers people can choose to support. Why should they choose raiseRED?

Schwenker: First and foremost, 100% of every penny donated to raiseRED goes directly to the UofL Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology (“the clinic”). raiseRED […] is the University of Louisville’s largest student-run philanthropic organization, and in the past five years, their efforts have raised over $2.3 million for research and patient needs.

RaiseRED funds research and contributes towards patient needs. This year-long fundraising effort culminates in an 18-hour dance marathon every February to honor the children we fight for. Not only does the organization raise money for the hospital, they build relationships with the families. CARDINAL CREW, a unique program that matches children with our leadership and hosts events that let them just be kids, is just one way this organization makes impacts in the community outside of financial support.

UofL News: Why do you think RaiseRED continues to be so successful?

Schwenker: I think raiseRED is unique where students are actively engaged through the dance marathon where they get to meet the people being helped by their fundraising efforts. We hear over and over how motivating this has been and has pushed dancers to get even more involved in the organization because of the personal connection and impact.��

As for why raiseRED remains so successful, the impact the organization has and the connection the students are able to make with each other, the clinic, kids, patients, families, and that truly differentiates a cause from a mission. So many students year over year align themselves to raiseRED’s mission whether it be because of their personal connection to cancer through a family member, friend, or even sometimes their own experience. By aligning so many invested people to a mission instead of ‘just another cause,’ the support and commitment of those involved goes far beyond this year, this donation, hitting this contribution level. We never want another person to hear, ‘your child has cancer.’ We fight for the kids.

The mini-marathons, which have taken place for roughly five years, began as a way to not only raise money for pediatric oncology and raiseRED’s overarching goal, but establish ties between UofL and the local community.

“We wanted to get more involved with the schools in our community, especially with the students that are potentially going to come to the University of Louisville,” said Emma Gabbard, one of the mini-marathon coordinators. “We wanted to engage them earlier than later and show them what kind of service opportunities they can have at the university.”

Lasting anywhere between six and eight hours, a number of local schools have hosted their own mini-marathons, including Male, Central Hardin and North Oldham high schools. One long time partner, Ballard High School, will host its 5th annual mini-marathon this year.

The money raised at the mini-marathons contributes to raiseRED’s final total revealed at the larger 24-hour marathon. The experience, Gabbard believes, gives the participating students hands-on leadership experience.

“Just showing them something they can be passionate about and giving them the means to be passionate about something is really impactful,” said Gabbard. “They get complete ownership of this too, it’s not us running it for them. They run it with our assistance.”

Catherine Ehlman, co-coordinator of the mini-marathons, is inspired by the students she and Gabbard work with.

“Watching students of all ages come together voluntarily to raise money to find a cure for pediatric cancer and blood diseases reaffirms my belief that our generation of young people can come together and accomplish anything,” said Ehlman. “The University of Louisville is an institution at which they can continue to make an impact on their community and the world at large.”

It’s what makes University of Louisville’s athletics department’s partnership with raiseRED – the largest, on-campus student-led philanthropic campaign that fights to end pediatric cancer – an all-around victory.

The deal centers around a plan called Flight 23, which provides students admission to every home regular season home game for all 23 sports, including football and men’s and women’s basketball, for $10 per month.

Athletics is donating $2 to raiseRED for every Flight 23 member that attends a home football game (up to $10,000 total) and $1 to raiseRED for every member that attends a home men’s basketball game (up to $20,000 total).

can be purchased online through each student’s .

In previous years, athletics has donated a portion of funds for every student season ticket purchase referred by raiseRED, which focuses year-round efforts on supporting research and funding of the UofL Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology.

Last school year, raiseRED fundraised a record $682,483, a figure that could be surpassed with the new partnership.

Though the partnership dates back to at least 2016, last year’s successful single-game initiatives between athletics and raiseRED signaled opportunities for continued growth.

On Jan. 31, Louisville’s women’s basketball welcomed 11-time national champion Connecticut to the KFC Yum! Center for raiseRED Student Night. Head coach Jeff Walz and provost Beth Boehm agreed to donate $10 each to raiseRED for every student in attendance. By the end of the night, the Cardinals knocked off the Huskies and raiseRED was on the receiving end of a $10,000 check. Earlier that year, men’s soccer and athletics marketing teamed up to donate $1,000 to raiseRED in appreciation of the organization helping drive student attendance to the match.

Athletics will continue its student night initiatives with raiseRED during the fall and winter seasons leading up to the Dance Marathon, which is held annually in February.��

“We are very thankful for our partnership with athletics,” said Cole Hetzler, raiseRED’s university outreach coordinator. “It speaks to the community that we have here at UofL, and how we all support each other.”

Black and other University of Louisville medical students cut their hair or underwent complete buzzes during Tuesday’s RaiseRED Shaved Heads at Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, an event that is part of the UofL campaign to support the clinical practice and UofL researchers developing pediatric cancer treatment therapies.

In addition to raising money, Black and some of the other participants will donate their locks to create wigs for children who have lost their hair from chemotherapy.

“I’ve heard so much about what a great initiative this is, so last year I decided to grow out my hair to donate it,” said Black, a second-year medical student. “We study so much, but it’s important to see the human side of medicine. This is why I want to be a physician.”

The Shaved Heads event raised more than $3,600 for RaiseRED, and fundraising will continue through Feb. 23 when the campaign culminates in an 18-hour dance marathon. RaiseRED has contributed more than $1.8 million in five years to improve the lives of children and families affected by pediatric cancer and blood disorders.

Carlos Lynes, a fourth-year medical students who had his hair buzzed on Tuesday, said he gained a better understanding during clinical rotations of what pediatric cancer patients and families endure.

“It’s very easy to shave your head when it’s an option, as opposed to what children with cancer undergo,” Lynes said. “When you’re working with these kids who are sick, it adds a whole new layer of commitment and emotion and attaches you more to this cause.”

To donate to the UofL School of Medicine’s RaiseRED total, visit ��and click��“pledge support.”

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.”

RaiseRED is a registered student organization that plans events throughout the year specifically to raise money for UofL’s Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Research and Treatment Clinic. The 18-hour dance marathon event generates the most donations out of all of the events.

Though the event itself is a test of endurance,��Kristen Johnson, operations director of raiseRED, says dancing is the smallest thing participants do.��

“There are many other activities for participates to enjoy such as games, team competitions and listening to the stories of the kids and families affected by pediatric cancer,” she said.��

The dance marathon and its many activities are planned by 20 UofL student leaders who make up the raiseRED executive board.��

“The students are the ones who plan every bit of it … the students really run the show,”�� said Amanda James, a raiseRED adviser and assistant director of Alumni Programs.

The theme for this year’s event is space. James said dances, activities and competitions will revolve around this theme and she even expects dancers to be wearing space-inspired clothing, such as Star Wars shirts.

Though the student leaders run the show, its participants make the fundraising happen. Participants include everyone from students to alumni to members of the Louisville community. They participate either as part of a team or as an individual; the only requirement is that they raise $180 prior to the event.��

Oftentimes, some of the pediatric cancer patients will also participate in the event, underscoring its very purpose.��

As the dance marathon ends, all 1,000 dancers come together to perform the final line dance. At this time, the total amount raised with raiseRED throughout the year is finally revealed.

According to Johnson, the reveal is, “the best 3 seconds of the entire year.”

“It’s just really cool to see over a thousand people just collapse with joy after 18 hours,” she said.

Once the marathon concludes and all funds have been accounted for, 100 percent of the proceeds are sent to Dr. Ashok Raj, Department Chair of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, who oversees all pediatric care of cancer and blood disorders. As raiseRED’s partner, he helps determine how the funds are divided within the clinic. On average, 50 percent of the proceeds goes toward research, while the other 50 percent is sent to the treatment clinic to pay for supplies, entertainment and operations for the kids.

Along with the dance marathon, the executive board has developed other events to further support raise funds, including a singing competition, Raise Your Mic, and a UofL Welcome Week Zumba event. Most recently, raiseRED held its second Kid Prom, where kids from the treatment clinic had an opportunity to dress up and dance with raiseRED participants.

The goal of these events is to spread awareness that raiseRED is more than just an annual dance marathon, it is also a UofL tradition. More information about the event, including how to participate or donate, is .��

The event, Thursday, Nov. 16 from 6-9 p.m. in Bigelow Hall, marks the 100-day countdown until the annual RaiseRED��18-hour dance marathon��that raises awareness and funding for the children, families and doctors fighting pediatric cancer and blood disease at UofL.��Last year, more than��1,100��students��raised $459,000. This year’s goal, for the fifth��annual event, is��$550,000.

Thursday’s event is meant to “raise awareness and get people hyped,” for raiseRED 2018, said Brigid Meagher, a psychology major and marketing coordinator for the event.��

The 100 Days Celebration is open to any who wish to attend, she said, and admission is free but donations are encouraged. The goal is to raise $5,000 in one day. Students will play games with children from UofL’s pediatric oncology and hematology clinic. is catering and UofL basketball Hall of Famer Darrell Griffith promises to be on hand.��

More than 100 students work year round on fundraising for RaiseRED, Meagher said.

“Childhood cancer is nothing anyone should ever have to deal with,” she said. “Kids should be able to focus on growing up, not worrying about whether they’ll get to celebrate another birthday or not. This is something I’ve found a lot of passion in. It keeps me going to see the direct impact this organization has.”

The last song was mix of some of the hits they’d listened to during the raiseRED Dance Marathon, Friday and Saturday, in the SAC Multipurpose Room.

As the words “I’m gonna stand by you” from Rachel Platten blared from the speakers, raiseRED’s executive board unveiled the total amount raised number by number on poster boards: $459,402.50.

The crowd erupted. On stage, raiseRED’s executive board hugged, cried and pumped their fists in the air, celebrating a year of hard work.

The 2017 total is the most the group has ever raised. More than 1,100 dancers, also a record, participated in the marathon. Each dancer committed to raise at least $100 to participate.

“I thank you for believing in our mission and giving hope to these families,” said Ellie Romes, operations director for raiseRed.

Money goes directly to support pediatric cancer research and care at the University of Louisville. As the students celebrated their success, Ashok Raj, MD, stood not far away in awe of the students, admiring their “selflessness, compassion and love.”

Raj, UofL’s interim chief, division of pediatric hematology and oncology, went on to explain,”We had 78 families last year that heard those four��dreaded words: your child has cancer.”

The money raised from raiseRED can have a huge impact on young patients and their families. Money from the fundraiser has helped fund research on cancer vaccines, as well as provided clinical improvements to support families, including a full-time social worker.

Raj arrived at around 8 a.m. Saturday to cheer the students on and let them know he stood with them. He said he would never be able to find the right words to thank them for their service.

“This just makes you feel like humanity still exists,” Raj said.

The marathon kicked off at 6 p.m. Friday. Throughout the night, dancers heard words of encouragement from those impacted by pediatric cancer. It was also fun, though, with themed-hours like a “Rave Hour,” “Hakuna Matata,” and “2 Legit 2 Sit.”

Supporters also stopped by, including interim President Greg Postel, Louie the Cardinal Bird, UofL student athletes, The Kentucky Derby Festival Princesses and even some Disney Princesses.

Leigha Moore, a sophomore from Union, stood not far from the stage after the final announcement, exhausted, but joyful. She’s danced in the marathon for four years, and each year, sees the amount raised beat the previous year.

She started dancing because she’s known people touched by cancer.

And though the 18-hour marathon takes it’s toll on her, she said it was worth it to be able to step up and help families and the community.

“It’s really emotional to see this total,” Moore said.

‘Running Man’ joins the cause

Connor Jackson, an engineering student from Mt. Sterling, could hear some of the students from back of the room. He was not among the dancers – he instead spent a good portion of the evening on a treadmill, running to support the fight against pediatric cancer.

Whenever he stepped off of the treadmill, another student hopped on to keep the treadmill going. In all, students ran 193 miles. Jackson ran 52.4 – the equivalent of two marathons – on his own. His friend, Alex Lavesque, a Bowling Green sophomore, ran 20.2 miles.

Jackson, dubbed “Running Man” for the night, said the dancers and families stopped by to offer support. And from the stage, he could hear some of the stories from families who had been impacted by raiseRED.

“Some of the stories got me misty-eyed,” he said.

raiseRED is continuing to take donations online at raisered.org. .��