Forget the 18 hours, the 600 dancers and the countless days of preparation – the number $150,227 is the only one that seems important now. This past weekend, Huskython 2010 set a new record at the University of Connecticut and it’s all for the kids.
There was not a seat in the Hugh S. Greer Field House as students stood the full 18 hours to raise money for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. The athletic complex was transformed into Huskython Central with banners, bounce houses, stages and more.
Sporting blue and pink Huskython t-shirts, dancers “Thrillered” and “Cotton-eye-joed” into the early morning with only one goal in mind -- breaking the 2009 Huskython record.
At noon, the numbers were in but the suspense wasn’t over. The slideshow, which was going to reveal the total amount of money raise, didn’t work. There was a signal failure.
Internal Director Jessica Burciaga was one of the 16 directors waiting on edge to see if their hard work paid off.
“Everyone’s reaction was the same, ‘What?!’” said Burciaga. “Someone had kicked the cord. But it started again, and finally the numbers rolled up onto the screen starting with the last. I could hardly stand it.”
Finally after 18 hours and then some, the numbers appeared, one at a time.
“Tears started streaming down my face. That is when I knew we blasted last year’s total out of the water,” Burciaga said.
Huskython 2010 topped last year by more than $42,000.
While an executive board runs the event, Burciaga says the true leaders of the night were the kids of CCMC.
During the event, patients and their families told their “miracle stories,” reminding everyone for whom they were truly standing.
“To see these kids run around the field house, beat us in inflatable obsticale courses, draw us pictures, and dance along side us shows us that miracles really do happen and we have a helping hand in that,” Burciaga said.
UConn students will spend the next few days kicking their feet up, but it’s just a matter of time before preparation for Huskython 2011 gets underway. As it has been for the past 11 years, the goal will continue to be to make it bigger and better.
