As the outside world closes down to protect from COVID-19, few places remain open. Hospitals are one of the establishments to remain open during this pandemic. With efforts to keep hospitals prepared and open, donations have become a way for the public to contribute in this effort.

Since 2008, FHS has been raising money for Riley Children’s Hospital in support of the Riley kids. Members raise money all year long through their own online accounts and creative alternatives.

The annual Riley Dance Marathon was supposed to take place on March 20, but was rescheduled to May 8. The executive board for Riley decided to hold a virtual Dance Marathon with videos of Riley kids, Jason Urban and the Fishers Morale Dance posted on social media platforms.

“We [Riley Executive board] worked really hard to come up with a fun yet safe way to celebrate this year and all the miracles we made by having a Virtual Dance Marathon,” sophomore Izzy Slick said. “We all agreed that it was a good idea and everyone got to work on videos and pictures that were going to be posted.”

This year the students at FHS raised $102,006.14. Even with events canceled like the Riley fashion show (which was moved to a live stream) and spirit week, they continued to take donations through their website.

“Donations have been affected by the virus in many ways. From the Riley fashion show to the dance marathon itself, opportunities to donate got cut short,” senior Keegan Hurst said.

Meetings and the interviews for the executive positions for next year will be postponed until further notice for everyone’s safety. Usually by this time the positions would already be decided.

“We would also have meetings over the summer to talk about plans and fundraising, but we want to keep everyone safe for the time being,” Slick said.

Keep up with all of Riley’s updates on their website or their Instagram (@fhs_dm).