Dance Blue at the University of Kentucky is celebrating 18 years this weekend.

Students fundraise to participate in the dance a thon today.

They have raised almost $20 million and they don't plan on stopping any time soon.

The Ensley is our 24 hour dance marathon that raises money for the Kentucky Children's Hospital Hematology Oncology Clinic.

It's a philanthropic, silent renovation.

So we work all throughout the year to raise the money and volunteer in the clinic.

And first week kids and families.

For the dancers, it really is about 24 hours on the floor.

So dancers and committee members will all file in.

And so what we will do is we all stand at 8 p.m. on Saturday and Memorial Coliseum.

And until then, you're standing until 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Dance floor funding helped us to create this new clinic over closer to the hospital in 2017.

And it's been amazing.

We have private rooms for patients and families, and we're close to the hospital.

So when a family needs to be admitted, they can just walk right down the hall with our nursing staff instead of from across the street.

So those are things that have genuinely improved care as well for patients and families and made it easier to to access a lot of centers that are the size, don't have the benefit of having all of the services that we have.

So we are really special and unique in that way, thanks to Dance Blue.

Oh, yeah.

Jarrett Lanier was a patient at Kentucky Children's Hospital who has.

Hold on.

I was just bringing joy.

He wanted he thought the joy was the best.

Medicine is one of his quirks.

And his mom and his family were so inspired by that he wanted to live this legacy of joy and he wanted to leave that legacy as well.

If he was the kind of child who always was looking out for others, who was very outgoing and who was empathetic beyond his years.

Dance Blue started in 2006 as a dream of Jarrett's and a dream of my husband's and I, our our fulfilling a wish for Jarrett.

He had asked us if in his last days if we would do something in his memory to help.

Pediatric Oncology Clinic.

Dance Blue is so very important to our staff, to our patients and families.

I think this can be a very long way experience for for patients, for families and dance for you really provides a community and a support for patients and families when they are in their darkest, sometimes darkest moments.

We have a memorial Hour.

So we have an hour that families that have been treated at the clinic and past survivors and families that have lost their kids as well, have the opportunity to speak.

And then we celebrate at the end with the reveal of how much we've raised all throughout the year.

So we have a motto.

That I think is really reminiscent of what we do as the employer, but also the university.

So it's till the battle is won.

So if you're a Kentucky fan, A, you're familiar with that.

It's part of our fight song and that we sing.

So Till the battle is Mine is just the fight that we are fighting for these kids and families.

And we hope that one day that we'll get to dance and the celebration that cancer is carried.

And but until then, we're like helping them fight that battle.

And that's really special to me.

Dance Blue is is a perfect way to honor Jarrett and all the children that Jarrett represents.

It would be his perfect idea of what what could be done.

What a special program.

All dance blue funds go directly to patient care, staffing the clinic and medical research.

Dance Blue is this weekend at Memorial Coliseum.