Liz White
She took a semester off and devoted it to Dance Marathon
Liz White got a break from her parents when they allowed her not to work during the fall semester at the University of Iowa.
They weren’t spoiling her by any means, though.
Liz didn’t want a job because she wanted to devote more time to her volunteer work.
“My parents knew how important Dance Marathon was to me so they allowed me not to work last semester,” White said. “So I got to volunteer even more of my time at the hospital.”
White has been involved with Dance Marathon since her sophomore year at Iowa in 2004.
Dance Marathon is a student-run group that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network of Iowa. The money goes to University Hospitals and is used to support children with cancer and their families.
The two-day event was earlier this month at the University of Iowa Memorial Union. Students raised money by dancing for 24 consecutive hours.
White started as a dancer two years ago. She then got involved with the hospital committee and now she is the hospital chairwoman for Dance Marathon.
White’s job as hospital chairwoman is a year-round responsibility.
She spends much of her time at the hospital visiting kids stricken with cancer.
“One of the kids that I just went to go visit had just gotten out of surgery so he was still kind of groggy,” White said. “His mom woke him up and told him I was here. And he just woke up, smiled and waved and then just fell back to sleep.
“That was enough to tell that he knew I was there. He knows that I care for him.”
White grew up near Chicago and learned through her Catholic education about the importance of helping those less fortunate.
She also likes kids and wants to be a teacher after she graduates from Iowa.
And despite her demanding schedule, Liz always makes time for the kids at the hospital.
“I learn so much from these kids, especially the kids I deal with,” White said. “They’re such fighters, and they look at everything positively.
“So it makes me realize that the little struggles that I’m having are nothing in comparison to what they go through. So in reality, they’re the ones that have taught me.”
White also is involved with the Heart Connections Camp, which is a weeklong camp for oncology kids.
She eventually would like to go back to school to become a child-life specialist for a hospital.
Kids will benefit from whatever she does.
— Pat Harty
