University of Maryland’s Terp Thon surpassed its $100,000 goal this past Wednesday during its Day of Miracles, raising $101,208.76 in 24 hours.
The student-run organization wanted to be ambitious this year while fundraising for its charity, Children’s National Health System in Washington D.C., external director Azita Nejaddehghan said.
“Last year, our goal was $15,000, and we crushed it in a short amount of time,” said Nejaddehghan, a senior kinesiology major. “We wanted to challenge ourselves and raise a lot more money for a charity that our organization cares deeply about.”
Terp Thon raised $101,208.76 during its Feb. 10 “Day of Miracles.” Here’s how that number compares to past years’ entire totals. (Graphic by Evan Berkowitz/The Diamondback)
The Children’s National Health System is the only health system in the Washington area designed for kids. It’s been around for more than 140 years, dedicating its services to provide the best pediatric care to its patients, according to its website.
Terp Thon’s fiscal director Kimberly Heller said the organization planned a day of activities so people could have fun while donating.
“We had everything from people getting pied in the face to competitions being held by some of the Greek chapters to help with our cause,” the senior sociology major said.
Morale Chairman Matt Angelico said the most exciting thing for him on Wednesday was when he promised to dye his hair rainbow colors if the morale committee broke $17,000 total as a team. They ended up raising $19,000.
“It was so much fun because I think it motivated people to try and raise the money because they wanted to see me with rainbow hair,” the senior bioengineering major said.
One of the most memorable moments about the Day of Miracles, Nejaddehghan said, was when one of the “Miracle Kids” posted a video on Terp Thon’s Facebook page.
“One of the Miracle Kids posted a video to ask for people to help raise $34 in one day,” Nejaddehghan said. “It was great to have one of them join us because people got to know more about the kids.”
Heller said the best part of the day was when people came to the Terp Thon Hub to help them raise money.
“When people would drop off money at the Hub, we would ask them if they would want to go ‘canning,'” Heller said. “We wanted people who donated to feel like they were a part of the organization and help out by asking around for donations.”
Social media was also a key to the day’s success, Nejaddehghan said.
“As we were going into Wednesday, we knew that everyone in our organization had to constantly post on their social medias to bring the awareness to the cause,” Nejaddehghan said. “Everyone in our organization did their job that day.”
Terp Thon members are still in awe of how much they raised in one day, and are thankful for everyone who donated, Heller said.
“Without the help of everyone on social media to the students on campus, we couldn’t have made our goal,” Heller said.
