Doctors for Global Health partners with Syracuse University to bring inaugural dance marathon to campus

Michele Barrett
(315) 443-6172

In a collaborative effort to raise awareness and funding for Doctors for Global Health (DGH) while promoting exercise and healthy activities for the Syracuse University campus and the community-at-large, a 12-hour dance marathon and fundraising event will be held Saturday, Nov. 8 (starting at 2 p.m.), through Sunday, Nov. 9 (ending at 2 a.m.).

All members of the SU community and the larger public are invited to participate in this first-of-its-kind event by DGH in Syracuse, which will be held at the Underground in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center (303 University Place). The College of Human Ecology and its Department of Health and Wellness are involved in supporting this event. Campus and community musicians and dancers-including the Brazilian Dance Ensemble, Guzman Dance Studio and SU Swing Club-will provide entertainment.

“We are all familiar with the statement ‘think globally and act locally’-this event provides us with an important opportunity for our local community to positively impact global health needs,” says Dessa Bergen-Cico, assistant professor in the Department of Health and Wellness.

One of the goals of the DGH Syracuse Dance Marathon is to educate and inspire the community about health and related worldwide needs in underserved communities by mobilizing a few hundred dance participants who are financially supported by pledges. In addition to staying awake and on their feet for 12 hours to raise money, the participants will symbolize the mental and physical challenges faced by individuals suffering from the lack of adequate health care and related services in their communities.

More information about the dance marathon, including how to sign up and pledge sheet forms, can be found at http://www.dghonline.org/syracuse_marathon1.html. For questions or to register, contact Nick Poulos at (315) 657-1258 or nppoulos@gmail.com.

DGH is a nonprofit organization that partners to bring health services to some of the poorest developing countries through its unique community-based approach. DGH assists communities in establishing sustainable care. Begun in 1995 with one project area in El Salvador, DGH now operates also in Argentina, Chiapas, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru and Uganda. DGH has no paid staff; all work is done by volunteers who work in their own locales; nearly 100 percent of donations go directly to DGH project communities. DGH is composed of hundreds of health professionals, students, educators, artists, attorneys, engineers, retirees and others committed to building long- term relationships between people and communities around the world to find effective solutions to social justice issues.

About the College of Human Ecology at Syracuse University

The College of Human Ecology is dedicated to excellence in professional academic education and integrates Scholarship in Action as a philosophy and method in all of its degree programs. The college brings together a rich history of academic programs whose signatures of social responsibility and justice join new and evolving majors reflective of educating global citizens whose leadership can-and does-change the places and peoples where they live and work.

Previously known as the College of Human Services and Health Professions until it was renamed in 2007, the College of Human Ecology hosts seven departments with strong roots in SU history: Child and Family Studies; Health and Wellness; Hospitality Management; Marriage and Family Therapy; Nutrition Science and Dietetics; Sport Management; and the School of Social Work.