Northwestern University Dance Marathon (NUDM) has announced Children’s Home & Aid as its primary beneficiary for NUDM 2020. Children’s Home & Aid is a leading child and family service agency in Illinois, serving over 40,000 children and their families each year.

Each year, NUDM goes through rounds of interviews to narrow down the list of many deserving charity organizations. This year, the board unanimously selected Children’s Home & Aid as the NUDM 2020 primary beneficiary. NUDM’s financial donations will primarily fund the agency’s therapeutic residential treatment center located in Evanston, the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Child & Family Center.

Children’s Home & Aid is one of the largest providers of child welfare services in Illinois, currently working with 1,000 children in foster care. The agency is also one of the founding members of the Child’s Home Society of America, along with its presence in Illinois.  

“This year, we wanted to take NUDM in a new direction,” said Rachel Cantor, one of the NUDM 2020 Executive Co-Chairs. “Every child deserves a home, and I’m excited to both help fund the therapy, counseling, and mentoring programs Children’s Home & Aid provides as well as discuss a topic that NUDM has never really touched upon before.”

Besides providing funding for programs provided by Children’s Home & Aid, Northwestern students will also have opportunities to participate in on-campus service programs, such as hosting trick-or-treating during Halloween at Norris, as well as off-campus events, like mural painting to decorate the foster center.

“With the Rice Center being in  Evanston, we can’t wait to see how Northwestern students will be able to build an especially close relationship with the beneficiary and grow their love for our surrounding community,” NUDM 2020 Executive Co-Chair Eliana Scobey said.