Photos by Shayona Sengupta
It’s the first Saturday of Spring Quarter and UCLA’s campus is deserted. Blissfully free of homework assignments, looming midterms and problems sets, students have fled Westwood…choosing instead to sun themselves in Santa Barbara, or hop from bar-to-bar along Venice Boulevard. The Bruin Bear stands alone.
That is, except for the 13-hour party being held in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom. Push through the drab, grey double doors and you walk into an après-ski straight from the slopes of Aspen. Decked out in neon jumpsuits, reflecting goggles and mardi-gras beads, you have entered Pediatric AIDS Coalition’s (PAC) Dance Marathon – a 13-hour music-fest bringing together the PAC, UCLA and LA communities.
Since its inception in 2002, PAC has raised almost 6 million dollars supporting the groups beneficiaries: the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Laurel Foundation and the UCLA AIDS institute. For only $19, PAC provides an HIV-positive mother with the necessary medication for an HIV-negative child. Although Dance Marathon might be their biggest event of the year, PAC fights pediatric HIV and AIDS through research, treatment and community outreach year-round.
Dance Marathon perfectly sums up PAC’s mission:
“When there’s a cure, we’ll dance for joy. Until then, we dance for life.”
Pediatric Aids Coalition
Featuring multiple UCLA bands, an hourly morale dance and vendors from across LA, here are some snapshots into Saturday’s extravaganza:
If you would like to support the cause, please donate here.
