first off - way to go with raising so much money
(i'm dance marathon obsessive, lol)
my school used to do our DM for 36 hours - yes 1.5 days of no sitting, sleeping, or laying. that got to be way too much, people passed out, got really hostile towards each other, and it was just a mess!! so they cut it to 24 hours - which in my opinion is the prime amount of time - after a week of classes and stress - who wants to be up any more than that anyway!! Penn State University does their 'THON for 48 hours and how they do it i can't even imagine... i have heard that the same rules apply, so sitting/sleeping... but i would assume they get more opportunities for the stuff we do - like they get to sit down for a mini 5 minute footrub, or they get to get a mini back massage a few times...i have heard though that people have been known to pass out from dehydration, sleep deprivation and all that stuff at theirs.. they raise millions of dollars every year though so they must be doing something right
DM is stressful and tiresome but youre so right, it is rewarding and in the end that keeps you going. i'm a morale captain for next DM 2003 at my school and i have been involved with it for the past 2 years. the 24 hours are tough on you, its so tempting and so easy to quit or go find a secret spot and lay down... but youre giving up 24 hours of your life in hope that some precious child willl have the opportunity to live a little bit longer and expeience a little bit more. its so worth it to me...
as far as games and stuff at hours... thisyear we had 2 awesome bands, MER and the Nadas (next year we're aiming for OAR), we had a hawaiian themed hour where we limboed, had a steel drum band, hula dancers... we have a huge game room with stuff like skeeball, basketball, one of those boxing rings where youre in a giant fat suit, we of course do our morale dance on a consistent basis, we did the hokey pokey, the chiken dance, someone came in and taught swing dancing (lots of people all trying to swing dance makes for many laughs) we had an elvis impersonator, a drag queen show(once the kids went to bed, haha) oh and so much more... if you want to know pm me, lol!!