On November 7, 2015 1,000 Temple University students packed Mitten Hall to celebrate their year long fundraising for HootaThon, Temple University’s Dance Marathon that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This year HootaThon raised $280,620.76 for the kids at CHOP.

President Melynda Link

Campus Recreation student staff member, Melynda Link was the leader behind the fundraising for HootaThon 2015. Melynda has been lifeguarding for Campus Recreation for over a year. Link is a senior Sport and Recreation Management Major, the manager of the Women’s Basketball Team,  a representative for Campus Recreation’s Community Service CREW and is a member of the Senior Class Gift Taskforce.

Melynda recently answered a few questions about HootaThon and its enormous success this year.

1. How long have you been apart of HootaThon?  

I have been a part of HootaThon since we established as an organization in the fall of 2012.

2. How & why did you get involved?  

I saw a Facebook event for a “HootaThon Informational Meeting” and I decided to check it out. My high school was the highest raising mini-THON for the Four Diamonds Fund and I participated all four years, the last three as a committee member for Hospital/Family Relations.

3. What has been the most rewarding part of being the President of HootaThon? 

I truly believe that the Dance Marathon has the ability to change the world, with so much more than just the money we raise. The awareness we generate for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and the ability to bring college campuses together to help kids is the best part of the Dance Marathon. Being able to lead HootaThon to register 1,271 dancers this year has been the most fulfilling experience I have ever had. This means that there are over a thousand Temple students who now know how incredible CHOP is and how much we can help them. I couldn’t be more grateful for the dancers, the committee members and the executive team who helped us set the national fundraising record this year, but more importantly, created a movement on Temple’s campus.

4. With the expansion of Temple, where do you think HootaThon will be in 5 or 10 years? 

With HootaThon’s exponential growth, I would not be surprised to see HootaThon as a million dollar program in year 6, which is 2018. With our diverse campus, we have the ability to connect with our local community in so many ways.  I can’t even think about 10 years from now, but I know we will be making a difference in millions of kids’ lives every year and I know every year I will be more and more excited to see where we have grown, considering I know firsthand where we started.