Thanks to a student-driven effort, Danville High School students were able to raise more than $5,700 for childhood cancer research.

The students accomplished this through a five-hour DanceBlue mini-marathon at DHS the evening of Friday, March 8. DanceBlue is a University of Kentucky student-led organization that raises money for childhood cancer research. Funds support children of the Kentucky Children’s Hospital Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic. The event consisted of dancing, games, speakers, food and more.

Instrumental in organizing the event as well as the fundraising, which went on for about a month, were DHS students Emilee Beauman and Nico Lucas.

“This was a really big cause that’s close to both of our hearts, and we wanted to share it with the school,” Beauman said.

Beauman was responsible for organizing games during the event, getting DanceBlue T-shirts sponsored by Danville Pediatrics, and other efforts to make the event a success. She and Lucas attended events at UK in preparation for setting up a DanceBlue event at DHS, met with organizers and more.

Thanks to donations and discounts from Papa John’s and Casa Grande, the students were able to provide food during the event. There were also popsicles and sweet treats.

The event was sponsored by the DHS National Honor Society, so many NHS students were in attendance and helped with fundraising. There were about 60 total students in attendance for the mini-marathon. Funds were raised through a Network for Good fundraising link, donation forms that NHS students used, and through admission costs.

The night of the event, the students recorded $5,674.69 raised. Since then, they have raised additional funds, making the current total more than $5,700.

About the amount raised, Lucas said, “For us, that’s just a starting point. We plan to make it bigger, hopefully next year, and now that more people know about it, we hope to spread awareness.”

Beauman and Lucas both said they think one reason the Danville community has been motivated to support this cause is because many people in the community know families directly impacted by the effects of childhood cancer.

“You can’t really go to a community that doesn’t have at least one family that has been affected by that,” Lucas said.

DHS Library Media Specialist Laura Eason, who is a co-sponsor of NHS along with English Teacher Blossom Brosi, spoke about how student-driven the event was and how much excitement there was among the students at the event.

“On their faces was such joy,” she said. “And then I was blown away by the amount of money that was raised.”

She said one phrase the group used during the night was “For the Kids,” or “FTK.”

“Their enthusiasm did not wane all night,” she said.