Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Two DM dancers to introduce Rosie O’Donnell on talk show

Even after raising more than $2,400 for Dance Marathon and dancing for 30 hours, the work of Ari Berman and Neha Bhardwaj remains unfinished.

Their promotion of DM continues today when the pair introduces Rosie O’Donnell on her live talk show on NBC. The show will air locally at 3 p.m. on Channel 5.

The dancers earned the opportunity through a DM contest in late February for the top Northwestern fund-raising organization. Willard Residential College won the contest at the preliminary fund-raising deadline and eventually raised $25,433.22.

Berman, a Willard resident, was the top fund-raiser for the dorm and was invited in early March by DM and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS foundation, DM’s beneficiary this year.

He chose to take Bhardwaj, his friend and fellow dancer, to the show after his partner, Speech junior Juliette Adida, was unable to attend. Bhardwaj and her partner raised more than $1,000.

Berman, a Medill freshman, said Wednesday that he was very excited to have a chance to be on national television, especially because he feels DM’s work is so meaningful.

“I’m pretty happy about announcing Rosie,” Berman said. “I think it’s a good opportunity to get the message out (about DM).”

DM Public Relations Co-chairwoman Kathy Bryja said DM will benefit from the national exposure provided by the show.

“We’re really excited to have two dancers going because they can talk about their experience dancing for 30 hours,” said Bryja, a Medill senior. “‘Rosie’ is such a popular show that a lot of people will get to see it.”

Berman said he is unsure exactly what he will say when live on the show, but that his purpose is to explain the work of DM and its significance.

“I don’t think I’m going to make anything personal,” Berman said. “I’m not going to be like ‘Hey, Mom and Dad.'”

The road to New York began for Berman when he started fund raising for DM this fall. Instead of canning or soliciting donations exclusively from friends and family, Berman wrote letters asking for donations.

Liz Kores, Willard DM fund-raising chairwoman, said she thought Berman raised so much money because he addressed each donor individually in his letters.

“Ari wrote a bunch of personal letters to donors instead of taking the form letter route, and he addressed each of the people he was writing personally,” said Kores, a Weinberg sophomore. “When you appeal to a person as a person instead of as a random individual, the donor understands the connection to the charity.”

Kores said Willard’s status as one of the top fund-raising organization was earned by dedicated residents.

“We were happy with the Willard effort in general,” Kores said. “We raised $7,000 more than last year, and a lot of that is due to the fact that Ari and the other dancers went all out and raised more than the requirement.”

DM will host a post-party this evening for DM dancers and interested students at 8 p.m. in the Louis Room. The party will wrap up this year’s effort with a slide show, fund-raising awards and leftover DM merchandise.

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Two DM dancers to introduce Rosie O’Donnell on talk show