Each year, Saint Mary’s Dance Marathon sells sweatshirts as one of its fundraisers that supports Riley Hospital for Children. This year’s fundraiser begins this week.
Notre Dame junior Landis Collins, vice president of merchandise for Saint Mary’s Dance Marathon, said the EMX sweatshirt is a visible tradition at the College.
“I design and help with the sales and that we do for Dance Marathon,” Collins said.
The EMX sweatshirts always feature the same design, yet it is different enough from year to year that some students purchase the sweatshirt each year, she said. As vice president of merchandise, Collins comes up with the colors and patterns.
“We usually sell about 150 [sweatshirts],” Collins said.
The fundraiser is one of Dance Marathon’s biggest and most visible merchandise sales, Dance Marathon president and senior Clare Carragher said in an email.
“Over the past five years, EMX sweatshirts have been one of our biggest merchandise fundraisers at Saint Mary’s College,” Carragher said. “The fundraiser has now expanded to include Holy Cross College, and we are looking to expand sales to Notre Dame students.”
This fundraiser is important to Dance Marathon because it allows support for the campus community as well as the hospital the organization supports.
“EMX sweatshirts not only raise money for the kids at Riley Hospital for Children but also strengthens the support among the tri-campus community,” Carragher said. “The EMX stands for SMC in the Greek alphabet. … Although we do not have a Greek system at Saint Mary’s, Saint Mary’s often feels like one big sorority.”
This year’s design is different than previous years because it features a corded sweatshirt by a brand called Chicka-d as opposed to more traditional fabrics, Collins said.
“Chicka-d is actually a brand that we’ve never used before,” Collins said. “It’s mission is to design comfortable clothing for women, so they’re more flattering sweatshirts.”
Collins said she had some familiarity with the brand, which led to her decision to use it for this year’s sweatshirt.
“Since Saint Mary’s is an all-girls school, their mission statement really speaks to us,” Collins said.
Collins said Dance Marathon tries to sell the EMX sweatshirts in the fall to correlate with Giving Tuesday.
“EMX sweatshirts have and will continue to bring awareness to all the kids we are fighting for one day at a time,” Carragher said.
Dance Marathon will begin selling the sweatshirts from Tuesday until Nov. 15 during lunch and dinner hours in the Student Center at Saint Mary’s. Orders can also be placed through direct messages on Dance Marathon’s Instagram but must be paid for in person. The cost is $45.
