FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2008
For More Information, Contact:
Northwestern University Dance Marathon
Carley Ribet, 708.217.1530
pr@nudm.org

Dance Marathon 2009 announces beneficiary

35th anniversary event to benefit Project Kindle

EVANSTON, IL – After record breaking numbers in 2008, Northwestern University’s Dance Marathon, now in its 35th year, is proud to announce Project Kindle as its 2009 primary beneficiary.  Project Kindle supports, educates, and provides recreation for families affected by HIV and AIDS. In addition, Project Kindle seeks to educate young adults across the country on the facts about living with HIV and AIDS with an emphasis on eradicating the disease’s stigma.

“We couldn’t be more excited to start working with Project Kindle.  It is clear that the money we raise over the next year is going to make a huge difference in their organization, and that their efforts are far-reaching and effective,” said Liz Banks, DM 2009 Executive Co-chair.

Project Kindle provides several programs for families affected by HIV.  Camp Kindle is a collection of week-long and weekend camps for children and adolescents, taking place in various locations throughout the year.  At the camps, children can be free to be themselves, not worrying about their HIV status affecting the way others perceive them. There, they participate in a variety of recreational and educational activities.

“Having been involved in Project Kindle for over eight years, I am absolutely thrilled about this movement of our organization.  It’s amazing that we’re able to harness the positive energy of two separate entities into one, to really create a big change and to take our organization to a whole new level,” said Brett Avila, the Project Kindle liaison to Dance Marathon.

In recent years, Project Kindle has expanded to include SPEAK OUT.  This peer-to-peer advocacy program utilizes the Camp Kindle campers to educate the youth of America on what it means to be HIV positive. One main goal of the SPEAK OUT program is to combat the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in America. 

The Students Affected by AIDS Scholarship program exists to support young people impacted by HIV or AIDS who want to attend post-high school education.

Finally, the i know initiative is aimed at students of all ages.  Through artwork, poems, and journals done mostly by campers at Camp Kindle, i know aims to educate the campers’ peers about what it is like to live with HIV/AIDS.

“It is unbelievable how much confusion there still is about HIV and AIDS in America, and it’s definitely something worth correcting in the 21st century.  We are proud to be working with Project Kindle in an effort to erase the stigma of HIV and AIDS in Chicago and across the country,” said Phil Reich, Dance Marathon 2009 Executive Co-chair.

For the twelfth year, the Evanston Community Foundation will be Dance Marathon’s secondary beneficiary.  The Foundation builds and manages its own and other community endowments, addresses Evanston’s changing needs through grant making and provides leadership on important community issues. Thanks to consistent DM support, ECF offers more grant dollars than ever and now conducts a number of Community Programs each year.

Starting in the fall, students will begin registering to dance on March 6, 7, 8, 2009.  Dance Marathon 2008 broke records in participation with over 750 dancers and 300 committee members in 2008.

About Northwestern University Dance Marathon

Now in its 35th year, Northwestern University’s Dance Marathon is one of the world’s largest student-run philanthropies, having raised a combined total of more than eight million dollars since its founding in 1975. Northwestern University students will dance for 30 hours on March 6, 7 and 8, 2009.  In 2008, students raised $933, 855 in cash and in-kind donations.

For more information about both our primary and secondary beneficiaries, please visit their websites at www.projectkindle.org and www.evanstonforever.org.  Additionally, for more information about both Project Kindle and ECF as well as Northwestern University Dance Marathon, please visit www.nudm.org.

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