The Chicago Refugee Coalition (CRC) was chosen to be the Dance Marathon beneficiary for the 2024-2025 school year. Both Dance Marathon clubs at Niles West and Niles North work together to raise money throughout the year.

The CRC was founded in 2018 and aims to “provide innovative, dignity-centered relief services for refugees in the Chicagoland area,” according to its website. Together, Dance Marathon and the CRC are raising money to build a daycare for refugee children.

“This year’s beneficiary is the Chicago Refugee Coalition. They provide support to refugees across the Chicagoland area which includes clothing, food, education support and resume-building. Our money specifically is going to go help build a daycare center which will serve over 90 children. The cost for people using the daycare center is about $15,” Niles West Dance Marathon Sponsor Dena Lichterman said.

Dance Marathon executives senior Grace Cherian and junior Mai-Anh Nguyen make decisions about how to raise money for the chosen beneficiary. In years prior, Dance Marathon has raised money through fundraisers such as their T-bay auction as well as selling candy from boxes. The money that is raised then directly goes to the chosen beneficiary, in this case the CRC.

“Recently, we’ve been doing a lot of fundraising for them. Like the face-painting at Backlot Bash and Greek Festival, all that money goes to them. We are also going to start fundraising with other ways like our candy boxes to give them some more money,” Nguyen said. 

According to the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees, refugees are particularly at risk for malnutrition and undernutrition. To combat this, the CRC provides refugees with food security as well as clothing garments, and personal care items.

“The Chicago Refugee Coalition has been able to partner up with really large organizations and have provided over like 100,000 meals to refugees and 10,000 new pairs of socks. They really help out the refugees in even the smallest ways but make a big impact,” Cherian said.

Last year, Dance Marathon raised money for Will’s Place which seeks to create jobs for people with disabilities. They also donated to a secondary beneficiary, the District 219 Education Foundation. Dance Marathon raised $53,145.26.

Students who would like to get involved or donate to both the Chicago Refugee Coalition and the D219 Dance Marathon can reach out to Lichterman or donate directly to the Coalition here.