UCF student Chris Hixon, who survived childhood cancer, will participate in Knight-Thon to raise money for children’s hospitals./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/nNext weekend, he/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019ll be on his feet for 20 straight hours as part of Knight-Thon 2015, the UCF dance marathon that raises money for Children/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals. It/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s the biggest student-run fundraising event at UCF, and this year is bigger than ever, with a bigger venue at the CFE Arena and a bigger goal of raising $500,000./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
The money collected is split between two Greater Orlando Children/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals: Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and UF Health Shands Children/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s Hospital. Together, those hospitals treat more than 250,000 children a year for ailments like cancer, AIDS, birth defects, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, kidney and heart disease, in addition to accident victims and those in need of organ transplants./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
It/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s with those /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cMiracle Children/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d that Hixon, Knight-Thon/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s event operations director, feels a special connection./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cI can relate to them on a different level. I/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019ve been there /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2013 I/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019ve lived in a hospital, I know what it/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s like,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d he said. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cThere were times I was very scared, but because of the caring doctors and all the people by my side, I never felt alone./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
Knight-Thon culminates nearly a year of smaller events and fund-raising by Greek organizations, clubs, offices and departments. More than 1,000 Knights from more than 70 organizations are expected to participate at the dance marathon./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
It is Knight-Thon/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s 19th year, and it/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s grown rapidly over the past several years. In 2011, the event raised $84,640. In 2012, it climbed to $118,972. In 2013, it more than doubled to $258,554, and last year saw another big jump: $392,831./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cWe were extremely ambitious with this goal, but I have a lot of confidence in the UCF student body,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d student director Drew Strochak said. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cThe amazing thing about Children’s Miracle Network is that most of the money is raised $1 at a time./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
It/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s a long time to remain standing, but participants will get inspiration from Miracle Children and their families who will take the stage to share their personal stories./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cYou realize that although your feet may hurt, it/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s nothing compared to what these kids go through every single day,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d Hixon said./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
(And if they raise enough money, participants can earn perks like a pass to sit down for five minutes, a massage or even a shower.)/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
Hixon knows the money raised will lead to new treatments, and hopefully, cures./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cUntil that time comes,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d he said, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cwe/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019re going to keep dancing./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n
Knight-Thon starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 28, and ends at 8 a.m. the next day, at CFE Arena. It includes activities, food, free merchandise and entertainment throughout the day. For more information, visit the event/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s website and Facebook page/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Hixon received something terrifying on his 6th birthday: A diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer that/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s often fatal. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201cThe chances that I would survive were not in my favor,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u201d Hixon said. The next 2/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u00bd years were a whirlwind of chemotherapy, spinal taps and other procedures at a South Florida children/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s hospital. Fortunately, Hixon/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/u2019s story has…","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":65074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6,12,27,1],"tags":[13472,2682,3703],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-65071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","category-health","category-student-life","category-uncategorized","tag-drew-strochak","tag-knight-thon","tag-philanthropy"],"yoast_head":"/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/nKnight-Thon 2015 has special meaning for cancer survivor Chris Hixon/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/t /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/65071/n