District 219’s 13th annual Dance Marathon event will be held this Saturday, May 21 at the Niles North main gym. The event will begin at 4 PM and finish around midnight, with a bouncy house provided for children from 4-6 PM.

This year the event will feature theme hours such as Halloween, decades, beach, and neon. Dressing rooms will be provided for each costume change.

Students are encouraged to join because the event is completely run by students.

“Dance Marathon is the only fully student-run organization for the whole district. The students do everything from getting the food, planning the night, to raising the money. It’s fun and students are dancing for seven hours in order to raise money and awareness for one particular charity. This year, it’s the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. We would love to have as many students as we can have come out and support an amazing charity,” Dance Marathon sponsor and English teacher Dena Lichterman said.

While students in attendance are supporting a good cause, they are also able to spend time with their friends and other students.

“Everyone better come out and support DM this Saturday. It’s going to be great this year with an awesome dance, good food, and it’s all helping charity. There is no excuse to not spend the night dancing with your friends when it is all going to a good cause,” Dance Marathon executive and senior Jensy Joseph said.

Dance Marathon members take this night to celebrate all their hard work they have put in throughout the year.

“It’s supporting a great cause and regardless of the amount made it was a great learning experience about the charity and helping raise money for it. I think everyone should come out and show their support if they can,” DM executive and senior Ashly Pinarkyil said.

The event is free for all DM members who have raised their money and will receive a t-shirt for reaching their goal. For all non-members who wish to participate, the cost of entry is $7 per hour, $12 per power hour (10:30 P.M. to midnight), and all non-dancer freshman will receive one hour free.

Food and drinks will be provided, which is free with admission. All proceeds will benefit the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit organization advocating for public policies that will help bring an end to homelessness in Illinois.