‘Day Of Miracles’: OU Students Work To Raise $150,000 In 24 Hours

Raising $150,000 in just 24 hours all to help children battling serious illnesses: That's the goal for a group of University of Oklahoma students.

OU students spent Wednesday working to raise that amount to benefit Children's Health Foundation (CHF), the local affiliate of Children's Miracle Network. CHF said it will use the money for pediatric illness research, education and care.

Calling it their “Day of Miracles,” students used a variety of ways to collect contributions.

"People will go on campus and table and talk to people who walk by and try to get them to join and try to get them to donate,” OU senior student Kennedy Stearns, who has taken part in “Day of Miracles” each year since she began at OU, said. “And we'll text our friends and ask for small donations.”

"We've done that ($150,000 total) or more in year's past," Stearns added.

The cause is near and dear to Stearns, who battled leukemia twice.

"I didn't want to sit on the side and watch other kids go through that,” Stearns said. “I want to help them.”

Wednesday's Day of Miracles was one of several fundraisers the students have been taking part in. The events lead up to the OU Dance Marathon on the first Saturday of March 2023.

During the OU Dance Marathon, students will continue to raise money while meeting the children they are helping.

"It's a 12-hour event. We're on our feet the whole time where we have the kids there," said Stearns. "We have different college students, participants there, and basically, just try to make it the best day of the kid's life."

At the end of the OU Dance Marathon, they will reveal how much money they've collected. The previous year's total was more than $735,000.

"There's 300 schools across the country who participate in Dance Marathon and OU is in the top 10 of those schools based on their fundraising," said Linzy Farrant, chief development officer at CHF.

Since the OU Dance Marathon began in 1996, students have raised more than $7 million.

If you would like to donate online to support the event and help Children's Health Foundation, click this link.