On Friday, Jan. 19, Riley Dance Marathon (RDM) held their annual, Royals for Riley game during the boy’s varsity basketball game against Zionsville. Collaborating with sports teams in the school, in this case, the boy’s varsity basketball team is a part of RDM’s efforts to raise their year-long goal of $50,000 for Riley Children’s Hospital.

“Every year we try to coordinate with our sports teams and have a game dedicated to Riley in order to spread awareness,” RDM member Haeli Juthani said. “[This helps] get more collaboration across the school.”

At the game, RDM had a bake sale and a t-shirt sale during the game in order to raise even more money for the kids. The shirts costed 10 dollars and had the slogan, “Because every kid should be treated like royalty,” which corresponded with the marathon’s Disney theme this year.

“This year is our ten year anniversary of the Dance Marathon and our theme is Disney, which we used on the shirts as well,” Juthani said. “We had expectations to sell a lot of shirts and items at our bake sale and that went well.”

While the boy’s varsity basketball team claimed victory over Zionsville on the court, Dance Marathon members participated in Miracle Minutes, in which members go into the students’ section and students can donate money to Riley Children’s Hospital. These Miracle Minutes are held at many sporting events throughout the season, including the game on Jan. 19. Miracle Minutes place the opportunity to donate right where the students are, making it easier for students to know when and where they can donate money to Riley.

“Our Miracle Minutes were also very successful and we are hoping we made a good profit during the night,” Juthani said. “[This will] contribute to our goal of 50,000 dollars.”

While the goal of 50,000 dollars seemed like a lofty goal, RDM raised over 44,000 dollars during the 2017 school year. In the same way that the Royals led a strong game on Jan. 19, dominating by 28 points, by putting their best foot forward, RDM can achieve their goal to raise thousands for the kids.