VALHALLA, N.Y. (February 23, 2017) – The Westchester Medical Center Health Network is proud to announce that the Cadets at West Point have become the fifth group of college students to support Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), through a multi-hour, Dance Marathon.
The cadets held their inaugural, six-hour, Dance Marathon at West Point event recently at Cullum Hall on the campus of the United States Military Academy and raised $20,217, doubling their original $10,000 goal. Running from 2pm to 8pm, Dance Marathon at West Point connected hundreds of cadets from across the country with local children who have battled significant medical challenges at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, the children's hospital for New York's Hudson Valley and Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Dance Marathon is a Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals) program held at dozens of universities and colleges across North America. The Cadets at West Point are the first students at a United States service academy to host a Dance Marathon. During Dance Marathon events students bond with former children's hospital patients through games, structured activities, fundraising efforts and hours of dancing.
Cadets at West Point are thrilled to join the growing list of students supporting the advanced care provided to seriously ill and injured children at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital,'' said Meredith Buono Dagrossa, Manager of Marketing and Community Relations at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital. "Dance Marathon is more than a fundraiser. It is an incredibly moving, high- energy event where students, the community and children who benefited from lifesaving and life-changing care come together, along with their families, to support the hospital.''
The cadet volunteers joined students at Iona College, Mount Saint Mary College, Pace University and the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz as organizers of Dance Marathon events supporting Maria Fareri Children's Hospital. So far this academic year, Pace University students hosted their fourth Pace4Kids Dance Marathon and Iona College students held their third IonaTHON event. Together, Pace and Iona students raised nearly $40,000 for Maria Fareri Children's Hospital. SUNY New Paltz (April 15) and Mount Saint Mary College (date to be determined) will hold their second annual Dance Marathon events this spring. Collectively, Dance Marathon events have raised over $170,000 for the care of seriously ill and injured children at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital since 2013.
Maria Fareri Children's Hospital is a member of CMN Hospitals. One-hundred percent of donated funds collected through CMN Hospitals efforts in the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County support the care of children undergoing open-heart surgery, brain surgery, trauma and burn care, cancer treatments and other advanced services at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital. This past year, Maria Fareri Children's Hospital opened a state-of-the-art, pediatric imaging center designed to cater to the unique needs of children using funds raised through CMN Hospitals efforts. To get a glimpse of this one-of-a-kind center, please visit www.tinyurl.com/ho985kk
About Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, a Member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network
Maria Fareri Children's Hospital is the children's hospital for New York's Hudson Valley region and Fairfield County, Connecticut. Located in Valhalla, NY, this 136-bed advanced pediatrics facility cares for the region's most seriously ill and injured children including those in need of cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, hematology and oncology treatments, organ transplants and other specialty pediatric services. Maria Fareri Children's Hospital is also home to the area's only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Level I pediatric trauma and burn care programs and its Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For more information on Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, interested parties can visit www.WestchesterMedicalCenter.org/MFCH or follow the hospital at www.Facebook.com/MFCHatWMC and www.Twitter.com/MFCHatWMC.
About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region's only acute care children's hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit www.WMCHealth.org.
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