Oklahoma State's largest philanthropy organization is CowboyThon! So, what is it?

The history of Dance Marathon began in 1991 when students at Indiana University founded a dance marathon in the memory of Ryan White, a fellow student who passed away from HIV/AIDS due to a bad blood transfusion. The program now covers the U.S. benefiting hundreds of hospitals and thousands of kids and their families. Dance Marathons have become a tradition on campus everywhere. Each organization is entirely student-run and one hundred percent of all funds raised go directly to the school’s local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Oklahoma State University very own dance marathon called CowboyThon started in 2011, after a year of planning, hoping and pushing the first main event was held in February of 2012. Since then it has grown to be the largest philanthropic event held at OSU.

Main event, this is the last and best part of CowboyThon. Main event is defiantly the highlight and most amped up part of it all. There are games, food, and competitions. What means the most is getting to see and interact with the miracle children that are able to come. It's all for them and getting to see what the toils of our work are going to support is just so humbling. Main event is twelve full hours of all of this, dancing, laughing, and loving!

Leadership and Big Committee are crucial parts to the success of CowboyThon and are the spearheads for progress within the organization. For CowboyThon to run successfully and raise as much money and awareness for Children's Miracle Network Hospital a group effort is the only way to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. Leadership is filled with a group of kind hearted and giving group of individuals who dedicate more time than anyone else to the CowboyThon cause. Each one is a leader of a specific group, these range from Campus Life Relations, Catering, Events Management, Individual Fundraising, Morale and a few others. Under them, lies Big Committee members who all work within each of these specifically targeted groups to help reach the years goals.

Some might ask why we dance, why we do all this, let me tell you it's all worth it! Surrounding yourself within a group of open hearts like this can lead to truly amazing things. Hearing the stories of Miracle Children and seeing the struggles they and their families go through puts a new perspective into how you live your own life. Being a part of Big Committee, I was given the opportunity to go on a tour of Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City, seeing the impact of what we are doing for these kids makes it all worth it. Register today at http://www.cowboython.org/ to become a dancer and change lives.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. - 2 Corinthians 9:6

This generation fighting for the next.