At the end of the 20-hour marathon, the Knight-Thon executive board revealed a fundraising total of $392,831.65, an increase of more than $140,000 from last year, said Katie Waser, communications director for the event. The marathon concluded at 8 a.m. Sunday in The Venue.

More than 750 students participated and hundreds of people from the community visited the fundraiser.

鈥淚 am so proud of all of the dancers and everyone who has contributed to Knight-Thon throughout the year,鈥� said Chelsea Trynz, Knight-Thon鈥檚 student director. 鈥淲e have proven that when hundreds of students come together and commit to a cause with all of their hearts, miracles can truly happen.鈥�

The mission of Knight-Thon is to educate, inspire and unite the campus and community to provide ongoing support for the hospitals. The event is the largest student-run philanthropy at UCF.

The students are involved with Knight-Thon, a Dance Marathon that asks participants to stand for 18 hours to “dance for the kids who can’t” and to raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network. No strangers to a challenge, those involved with the university’s largest student-run philanthropy rallied together to gain the support of the UCF community — and the attention of Redick.

鈥淲e reached out to UCF students, faculty and staff members, asking for their help,鈥� said Michael Davis, Knight-Thon executive student director. 鈥淲e also received help from Dance Marathon programs across the nation and community supporters of the Greater Orlando Children鈥檚 Miracle Network. After that, the only thing we could do was tweet to J.J. Redick about why Knight-Thon was the most deserving group for the donation.鈥�

For the next week, Knight-Thon supporters sent tweets and videos to Redick, sharing their own stories about Knight-Thon and the Children鈥檚 Miracle Network. Katie Waser, Knight-Thon鈥檚 Family and Children鈥檚 Miracle Network Relations director, made several submissions of her own.

鈥淎fter tweeting countless miracle stories and Knight-Thon facts to J.J. and receiving responses, I finally decided to make a video to really share with him what Knight-Thon means to me,鈥� said Waser, a junior who hopes to become a child life specialist and work in a hospital after graduation.

鈥淚 talked about our wonderful miracle children and how Knight-Thon has truly changed my life. College is usually a selfish time where we think about our degrees, our money and just getting by,” Waser said. “When Knight-Thon is a part of the picture, college is a very selfless time.鈥�

On Christmas Day, Redick announced on Twitter that the winning charity was Loaves and Fishes of Apopka. Minutes later, he added that he and his wife, Chelsea, would also donate $25,000 to Knight-Thon and congratulated Waser for submitting the winning video.

鈥淚t was quite a whirlwind of emotions,鈥� said Waser. 鈥淚 was completely shocked. I cried tears of happiness and could not stop shaking because I just could not believe it.鈥�

Last year, Knight-Thon raised $118,000 for Children鈥檚 Miracle Network. This year, the organization鈥檚 goal is to raise $170,000 by April 13.

鈥淲e need the help of everyone in order to reach our goal,鈥� said Davis. 鈥淜night-Thon couldn鈥檛 raise funds without the generous support of students, faculty, staff and community partners. We鈥檇 like to thank everyone for their continued support.鈥�

Knight-Thon will begin Saturday, April 13 at 11:30 a.m. at The Venue at the UCF Arena. The dance marathon will run until 6 a.m. the next day. To learn more about Knight-Thon or to donate, visit .