Senior Kate Kellogg, vice president of Saint Mary's Dance Marathon, first introduced her custom-designed canvas tote to campus in the fall of 2011.
"When I was in high school, I would choose colors and fabric to create my own bag to bring to school," Kellogg explained. "My mom's business, the Queen and I Designs, had talented sewers that would put together exactly what I was envisioning."
Last year, when Kellogg constructed her own vision of a Saint Mary's bag for students to haul their books around campus, she thought of incorporating Dance Marathon.
"I decided to mass-produce the bag that I had wanted for my own personal use and sell it through Dance Marathon," Kellogg said. "I thought it would be a great way for business and to raise awareness and donations for Dance Marathon."
Kellogg's mother Jan said she and her company are very supportive of the Saint Mary's Dance Marathon totes.
"I have loved working with Kate on her bag designs," Jan said. "It's fun to have a mother-daughter project and to see her ideas produced as a product."
The popular navy canvas totes with a white imprinted French Cross have been extremely popular around campus.
This year Kate engineered a new canvas tote for Dance Marathon with a black and tan block pattern, but still imprinted with a white French Cross that is a signature of the College.
Kate said Dance Marathon has multiple fundraisers throughout the year in order to reach the final goal of $88,000.
Throughout the rest of this week, Dance Marathon will be selling Kate's custom-designed totes with 30 percent of the proceeds benefitting Riley Children's Hospital.
Along with the sale of the canvas totes, Dance Marathon is also hosting a Giveback night at Between the Buns on November 19, where 15 percent of all purchases will go towards Riley Children's Hospital.
Kate said she has enjoyed her involvement in Dance Marathon and Riley Children's Hospital and urges all of the Notre Dame, Saint Mary's and Holy Cross communities to participate.
"It's great to be doing something that I love and that expresses my creativity," she said, "while also knowing donations will be going to a great cause."
