HuskyTHON will be holding their 24-hour “Day of Strength” fundraising push on Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to midnight at the Student Union.
HuskyTHON is an effort led by students at the University of Connecticut to help fundraise for the non-for-profit Connecticut Children’s, which is on a mission to improve healthcare access for kids, according to the press release.
Day of Strength is the largest single fundraising push of the year for HuskyTHON, according to a press release from the organization. The event is meant to start off the fundraising for HuskyTHON’s 2026 “Above All Else” campaign by challenging participants to raise $148 each.
“Each participant is challenged to raise $148 in honor of the 148,893 unique patients seen by Connecticut Children’s in 2025,” the press release read. “These individual goals are designed to help UConn students raise $XXX,XXX in just 24 hours.”
Paige O’Keeffe, an eighth-semester elementary education major and the vice president of communications for HuskyTHON, said the fundraising goal of the event will be announced on Feb. 21 on the organization’s Instagram page.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. students will be able to win merchandise, play games and have the chance to sign up to be a part of HuskyTHON’s dance marathon and other fundraising events, O’Keeffe said.
At 7 p.m., Day of Strength After-Dark will begin and run until midnight. Activities such as dance marathon fundraising challenges and a DJ battle will take place, and students will be provided with complimentary food and drink and resources to learn more about the children the organization raises funds for will be available, according to the press release.
The 24-hour fundraising total from the day will be announced at the end of the night, according to the press release.
In 2025, the organization received a record-breaking number of donations on Day of Strength, raising $451,516.94, according to their Instagram profile.
“That milestone solidified HuskyTHON as the second-largest Miracle Network Dance Marathon program in the country based on funds raised,” according to the press release.
“We’re hoping that we’re just kind of gonna go above and beyond what we hit last year,” O’Keeffe said.
“The funds raised during Day of Strength contribute to HuskyTHON’s overall fundraising total, which will be announced at HuskyTHON, the organization’s 18-hour Dance
Marathon, on March 7th,” according to a press release.
“Viewers can support the effort by texting UCONN to 34-984 to donate, following @huskython on social media, or visiting huskython.org,” according to the press release.
Photo courtesy of Matt Farago, Grab Photographer
On the morning of the event, a Day of Strength video will be released on HuskyTHON’s YouTube channel, according to the press release.
Molly Normandin, an eighth-semester allied health sciences major and the vice president of membership, said a lot of HuskyTHON members will be at the event during the day, including dance representatives, captains and HuskyTHON rising leaders.
Normandin said there are currently 4,300 participants for the 18-hour dance marathon.
More information about HuskyTHON can be found on the organization’s website.