As Kent State students danced the day and night away on Saturday, April 25, the third annual Flash-A-Thon raised $37,784.46, surpassing the original goal of $30,000 for the hematology and oncology departments at Akron Children’s Hospital.

This year, Flash-A-Thon had an array of events including themed hours, a performance from the Kent Clarks, food and raffle baskets all to keep participants active throughout the 12-hour dance marathon.

Andy Lovrak, a senior advertising major and president of the Flash-A-Thon executive board, said he was amazed at how much money was raised for the kids.

“It was really great to actually see that not only did we meet our goal, but we exceeded it by almost $8,000,” Lovrak said.

Since students can still raise money until Friday, May 1, the final total will be greater than the $37,784.46 that was revealed at the event, Lovrak said.

Lovrak has been involved with Flash-A-Thon since its beginning in 2013. This year, he started out as a liaison between the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and the executive board and eventually stepped up into higher positions.

“It was just one of those things that I knew I couldn’t sit back,” Lovrak said. “If there is an opportunity for me to take a leadership role, I most likely will.”

Lovrak said when the final amount was revealed toward the end of the event, he was one of the last people to look because he was too afraid.

With all of his hard work over the past year to plan every detail of Flash-A-Thon, Lovrak said it was a good way to end his senior year at Kent State.

Blanca Daniel, a senior nursing major and vice president of Flash-A-Thon, said this would also be her last year getting involved with the event.

She said since its beginning, Flash-A-Thon has come a long way in many aspects including organization and fundraising.

“The first year they had about $12,000 raised which was good because we didn’t really know what we were doing,” Daniel said. “The planning and advertising of everything just got a lot better this year.”

Daniel said her favorite part about the event was watching all of the executive board’s hard work come to life after a year of planning.

“You can tell how passionate we all are about it, and it was nice to see it pay off yesterday (Saturday),” Daniel said.

MacKenzie King, a freshman sports administration major, brought a new face to the Flash-A-Thon committee this year. She began dancing when she was 3 years old and she wanted a way to stay active in college.

“I was walking around at BlastOff this year, and they had a table set up so I put my name down on the list because I had heard about dance marathons at colleges,” King said.

As a part of one of the four promotions teams, King said her team was in charge of putting together a “through the decades” themed hour, and fundraising around Stow and Ravenna.

King said her favorite part of being on a promotion team was her opportunity to connect with a family whose child is involved with Akron Children’s Hospital. They sent Valentine’s Day and Easter baskets to the family, she said.

“Making that connection with kids who are going through it right now was probably my favorite part of getting to know Addy and her family,” King said.

Interviews for next year’s executive board will begin soon. For more information and updates, check out Flash-A-Thon’s Facebook and Twitter pages.