Leave Your Legacy 2021

As the world changed, we were faced with many challenges and missed many opportunities. A specific one being the Olympics, an event that happens every two years and brings the world together. As we unite and strive for a better future, DM at FSU wanted our Second annual Leave your Legacy, our most significant fundraising push over the spring semester, other than our beloved marathon, to do just that, bring everyone together. So on January 27th at 6pm till January 28th at midnight, we brought the Olympics back, in true garnet and gold fashion. Members of our DM at FSU community were separated into two teams, Garnet and Gold, to see who could earn the most points through participation, fundraising, and games.

Throughout the past 26 years, we have kept the statistics of the fundraisers during many different fundraising pushes under wraps until the final reveal. However, we had live updates throughout the Leave Your Legacy push to celebrate the miracles being made every minute. Throughout the 30 hours, we updated the numbers for everyone to see- the total amount raised, the number of people who hit Dancer Commitment, who the top fundraisers were, and which team, Garnet or Gold, was in the lead. Our total that updated consistently was in part thanks to the generous restaurants, Bento and Bagel Bagel, that participated in our share it nights, having a portion of the bill donated to Dance Marathon to help create miracles.

To recognize the hard work of everyone involved, DM at FSU brought back a fan favorite activity that was all the hype over Statement – Tour de Gong. Throughout the afternoon on Thursday, DM at FSU brought our famous gong to every Panhellenic Sorority, as well as on Landis Green, at our Olympic Village, to allow members of our student body to be recognized for their incredible fundraising and their commitment For The Kids by Hitting That Gong!

Putting our own spin on the Olympic Village, DM set up a mock village on Landis Green to resemble the different housing buildings and centers that are used by the athletes and trainers. Instead of sleeping quarters, DM set up tables from 1pm to 7pm for participants to pick up any merch they ordered, grab incentives, and Hit That Gong, all while watching the fundraising LIVE! Every hour the finance team would update the numbers and they would be highlighted on a board in Olympic village so you could see if Garnet or Gold was in the lead.

To keep with the Olympic theme, the engagement team set up DM After Dark. An event that took place on Langford Green in teams of five. The teams competed in two rounds of four games, trying to make the fastest time in order to beat the other teams. At the end of the night, the top three teams were announced and received points that went toward their overall team, either Garnet or Gold. These points were important in deciding the ultimate winner. Not only was DM after Dark a great way to be active with each other while also being safe, but it was one of the five incentives on the challenge card.

The challenge card is the one way to get an exclusive Leave Your Legacy wristband. Participants had to reach bronze status, raise $50 for external and $150 for internal, create or post in a FaceBook fundraiser, donate to a friend and finally attend a share-it or participate in an event, to get the wristband. An added benefit to completing the challenge card is that every task is another way to earn points for either the Garnet or Gold team.

After the Olympic games concluded, the entire organization came together virtually for Total Reveal. Live-streamed on Facebook and Instagram, the top fundraisers from Leave Your Legacy held up the numbers, which read $93,048.22. Many programs, further research, and the latest technology will benefit from all the hard work done by so many in these 30 hours. At the end of the day, everyone left their legacy, but after all, it was a competition between Garnet and Gold. This year the Olympic champion is the Garnet team!