UM Students Danced Up More than $30,000 for LeBonheur

Ole Miss students, 449 of them to be exact, danced from noon until midnight at the Jackson Avenue Center and raised $31,454.29 to benefit LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., up from $25,409.73 the previous year.
The second annual RebelTHON was held on Feb. 22 and is an organized “dance marathon” that is meant “to stand for those who can’t” at LeBonheur, according got RebelTHON marketing director Lauren Keosseian, a junior Integrated Marketing Communications major.
RebelTHON provides emotional and financial support to the children, families, researchers, and staff of the local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Families of children treated by the hospital were featured at the event to share their stories and experiences. This year, fifteen Le Bonheur families attended the event in Oxford.
Kelly Scott, development coordinator at Le Bonheur’s Tupelo office, recalls the story of the Drewley family from Oxford. Three-year-old Brantley Drewley, who is chromosome deficient, happens to be a huge Ole Miss fan and both of his grandparents work at Ole Miss.
“He brightens my day whenever I see him,” Scott said.
A different family shared their story every hour, on the hour. The dancers kneeled while the families spoke. After the families spoke, the dancers did a morale dance together, a short choreographed dance.
“It’s an emotional time,” said Scott.
The rules of RebelTHON are simple: participants cannot sit or sleep. Every hour had a different theme and a different activity. Themes included Disney hour, school spirit hour, and rave hour.
“It’s not a competition,” explained Keosseian. “Everyone is a winner for standing for twelve hours and raising the final amount of money.”
There were five meals served this year, catered by Old Venice, Taylor Grocery, Rib Cage, B’s Hickory Smoke BBQ, and McEwen’s.

The date for next year’s RebelTHON has not yet been announced, but will be held sometime in the spring. Please visit https://rebelthon.org for more information on how to become involved.
– Emily Xie is a staff writer for HottyToddy.com. She can be contacted by emailing yxie3@go.olemiss.edu.