Students eager to join one of 12 Dance Marathon committees should submit an application by the end of today.

The committee duties range from making celebrity contacts to preparing food for tired dancers throughout the 30-hour event.

Committees sizes vary from 20 to 60 students. Applicants will be interviewed in a selection process during the next few weeks.

A new Advertising committee has been created this year and will be in charge of organizing an advertising campaign, flyering the campus and updating the Web site, www.nudm.org.

Elena Taryor, co-chairwoman of the dancer relations committee, said committees are the reason that Dance Marathon is such a success year after year.

“Without the work of each committee, DM wouldn’t be possible,” Taryor said. “Without the food committee dancers wouldn’t have food, for example. Committee members are the eyes and ears for the 26 of us on the exec board. They are the connection between us, our dancers and our outside sponsors.”

Being a member of a committee can also prove a rewarding experience, said Elaine Kanak, DM co-chairwoman.

“Becoming a member of a committee helped me realize how smoothly and professionally this organization is run,” said Kanak, a Weinberg senior. “You get to see firsthand how much work goes into this and what an impact the student body can make when they rally behind a great cause.”

DM’s is in its 31st year at NU and has become the university’s largest campuswide philanthropy.

More than 500 dancers raise money during Fall and Winter quarters for a different charity every year. Each couple must raise at least $750 to participate in the March event, where participants dance for 30 hours to celebrate their accomplishment.

But the challenge of raising money has not seemed to deter anyone. DM already has opened a dancer wait list due to the large number of students eager to volunteer.

The wait list to become a dancer is fund-raising competitive. As long as each pair raised the money, they will be allowed to dance, Kanak said.

This year’s event will primarily benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This Illinois-based foundation funds Type-1 diabetes research in hopes of finding a cure for juvenile diabetes and its complications.

A percentage of proceeds will benefit the Evanston Community Foundation, a local fund that works to improve the quality of life in the city by funding the activities of local service groups.

“We have a really close partnership with JDRF,” said Gina Strayer, co-chairwoman of the public relations committee. “Last week was the Walk to Cure Diabetes sponsored by JDRF. Getting people to care about issues and involved in community service is part of DM’s goal.”

The 2004 Dance Marathon gave more than $300,000 to Helping Autistic Voices Emerge Dreams last March.

But DM also is about having fun, Taryor said.

“In the first two years I was here, DM was the best experience I had on campus,” Taryor said. “To be on a committee and watch people through Dance Marathon is an amazing experience.”

Reach Alex Doniach at [email protected].