Dance Marathon Public Relations co-chairs held a press conference at 7 p.m. for members of local and university media. Executive co-chairs Scott Ritter and Kunal Joshi, B+ Foundation President Joe McDonough, and Evanston Community Foundation President and CEO Sara Schastok were on hand to answer questions and share their DM experience.
Joshi and Ritter, looking dazed and a little scruffy, thanked participants and organizers for their effort.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with the excitement and commitment with everyone involved,” Ritter said.
The most ardent thanks came from McDonough.
“This weekend has wildly exceeded my expectations,” he said. “I don’t know what to expect. I’m like a little kid waiting to go downstairs on Christmas morning.”
Schastok and McDonough laid out how their foundations would use money raised from DM.
Fifty percent of the B+ Foundation’s portion will go directly to cutting edge childhood cancer research. The other half will stay primarily in the Chicago area for family assistance programs.
The Evanston Community Foundation will use 75 percent of money received for non-profit project grants and the rest for internal foundation support. McDonough closed with his experience as a beneficiary and desire to be an active partner in the experience.
“It’s more than money,” McDonough said. “It’s about being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and seeing another facet of being human.”