On Wednesday, March 3, Fordham Dance Marathon (FDM) hosted its annual auction to raise money for the B+ Foundation, an organization that hopes to end pediatric cancer.  

Each year, FDM conducts a year-long fundraiser for their “B+ heroes,” who are all children battling cancer. Club members also spend the year getting to know the heroes and developing relationships with them and their families. This year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the club connected with sick children and their families virtually. The club raised $18,762 through their auction this year, more than the previous two years, according to the FDM Auction Director Sarah Huffman, FCRH ’21. 

The raffle for the auction began on March 1 and ended with the live auction on March 3. This year, FDM adapted their normal in-person auction formal to a virtual setting. 

“Instead of the typical event held in McGinley Ballroom with paper raffle tickets, we decided to use Fordham’s University tickets website instead,” said FDM’s Executive Co-Director Mackenzie Allen, FCRH ’21. “All raffle baskets and items [were] listed and [could have been] purchased using this site. The live auction portion [was] done over a Zoom meeting, with bids being placed using the chat function.” 

Items and prizes available for bidding during the live auction ranged from a custom Fordham “Monopoly” board to the first housing slot for the 2021-22 school year. 

The transition from in-person to virtual was not easy for FDM leaders. According to Huffman, the club did not start thinking about whether to do a virtual or in-person auction until January. However, Huffman explained that since the tickets were bought online, it was much more feasible to conduct the entire auction online. 

However, once the club settled on a plan, they needed to be flexible in order to adapt to any changes brought on by the pandemic. According to Huffman, the two-week pause that suspended in-person activity at Rose Hill at the beginning of February forced the club to change their plan for conducting the auction. 

“Once we settled on a plan, it was all hands on deck,” said Huffman. 

In addition to the raffle being online, other changes were made too. “We extended the raffle period to last from Monday at noon to Wednesday at 9 p.m.,” said Allen. “In previous years, the raffle was only open for about three hours on Wednesday night. This longer period of time allowed more people to participate.” 

The virtual setting also forced FDM to be more flexible when setting the rules for their auction. “In previous years, the winners had to be present in McGinley Ballroom to receive their prizes,” said Allen. “This year, we are able to ship items to winners, free of charge, to anywhere in the U.S. This will allow for many more people to enter in the raffle.”

Overall, the auction turned out to be a huge success, despite the unique challenges that FDM faced this year, said Huffman. “I’m very proud of my committee and whole group in general,” she said.

FDM plans to host more fundraising events and initiatives throughout March. There will be events for St. Patrick’s Day and “Pi” day, as well as events in collaboration with other clubs. These events all culminate in an entire day of dance on April 17. This year, the dancing will last 12 hours, six hours via Zoom and six hours in person.

If students want to get involved with FDM, they can donate, participate in events, start fundraising and follow the club on social media to stay updated. Students can also email  [email protected] for more information.