University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Students Pledge $250,000 to Arkansas Children’s Northwest

(Fayetteville, AR) February 9 – University of Arkansas at Fayetteville students involved in the campus organization, Hogs for Hope, have pledged $250,000 to Arkansas Children’s Northwest. The organization will raise the funds over the next five years through Dance Marathon, their annual 12-hour event.

“Hogs for Hope is proud to represent University of Arkansas students and pledge our support to Arkansas Children’s Northwest,” says Shannon Lydon, president of Hogs for Hope student organization. “This is our third year to host Dance Marathon and we wanted to make a promise to help deliver care close to home for the 200,000 children in our community.”

Dance Marathon is a national Children’s Miracle Network Hospital movement. Students at universities across the United States unite to help local kids by raising thousands of dollars for their local CMNH hospitals. Dance Marathon has raised $31.4 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals nationwide in 2016. When it opens in January 2018, Arkansas Children’s Northwest will be the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital for Northwest Arkansas.

This year, the Hogs for Hope Dance Marathon will be held Saturday, Feb. 18, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., at the Fayetteville Town Center. The event will feature themed dance hours, food, games and inspiring stories from Arkansas Children's patients and their families.

Families, students and businesses are encouraged to sign up as a team or participate as an individual and dance all night to raise funds for Arkansas Children's Northwest. All participants may register online at http://rso.uark.edu/hogshope. The registration fee is $25 and includes an event t-shirt and food throughout the event.

“The outpouring of student support has been incredible,” says Tiffany Black, development officer for Arkansas Children’s Foundation. “The Hogs for Hope Dance Marathon has grown each year, and it is inspiring to see the students on the University of Arkansas campus champion the children in the community by supporting Arkansas Children’s Northwest.”

Arkansas Children’s Northwest will be the region’s first and only comprehensive pediatric healthcare center and will include:

• 24 inpatient beds to care for children requiring overnight stays
• 24-hour pediatric Emergency Department
• Pediatric surgery unit with 5 operating rooms
• An outpatient clinic with 30 exam rooms supporting more than 20 subspecialty areas and a general pediatric clinic
• A full range of ancillary and diagnostic services, child-life and pastoral care
• Outdoor gardens, nature trails, and interactive features designed for children
• A helipad and refueling station supporting Angel One, one of the nation’s leading pediatric intensive care transport services with more than 2,000 transports annually.

The freestanding children’s hospital is being built on 37 acres of land donated by Robin and Gary George, Cathy and David Evans and their families -- a gift valued at $7.4 million. The campus is centrally located on I-49 between Don Tyson Parkway and Highway 412, across from Arvest Ballpark. The project is expected to cost $427.7 million in construction, technology, equipment, and operating expenses over the next five years, and will create 250 new jobs. 

Arkansas Children’s Northwest is being designed by Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects of Fayetteville and Little Rock, Ark., and FKP Architects of Houston, Texas. Nabholz Construction is overseeing construction. The campus is an integral part of Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s plan to transform the health of children in Arkansas by expanding access to pediatric services across the region.

Hogs for Hope is a registered student organization at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville comprised of 50 students lead by a 12-member executive team. For more information on how to register as a participant or donate to Hogs for Hope Dance Marathon visit http://rso.uark.edu/hogshope. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Tiffany Black, Associate Development Officer for Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation at blacktn@archildrens.org or call 501-364-2094.

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals (including Arkansas Children’s Hospital) that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $5 billion, most of it $1 at a time through the charity's Miracle Balloon icon. Its various fundraising partners and programs support the nonprofit's mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. Find out why children's hospitals need community support, and learn about your member hospital, at CMNHospitals.org and facebook.com/CMNHospitals.

Arkansas Children’s, Inc. is the only hospital system in the state solely dedicated to caring for children, which allows the organization to uniquely shape the landscape of pediatric care in Arkansas. The system includes a 359-bed hospital in Little Rock with the state’s only pediatric Level 1 Trauma Center, burn center, Level 4 neonatal intensive care and pediatric intensive care, and research institute as well as a nationally-recognized transport service. It is one of the 25 largest children’s hospitals in the United States and is nationally ranked by U.S. News World & Report in pulmonology and neonatal care. A sister campus is under development in Northwest Arkansas and will bring 233,613 square feet of inpatient beds, emergency care, clinic rooms and diagnostic services to children in that corner of the state. A private nonprofit, Arkansas Children’s boasts an internationally renowned reputation for medical breakthroughs and intensive treatments, unique surgical procedures and forward-thinking research and is committed to providing every child with access to the best care available, regardless of location or resources. Founded as an orphanage, Arkansas Children’s has championed children by making them better today and healthier tomorrow for more than 100 years. For more info, visit www.archildrens.org/northwest.