Four CHS student leaders help organize Oct. 18 DanceBlue 5K benefiting children and families affected by pediatric cancer

By Ryan Clark and Ella Rosner
CHS Contributors

For four College of Health Sciences students, helping children and families facing pediatric cancer is about more than raising money. It is about creating moments of joy, building connections and making a difference that lasts long after the finish line.

Natalie Boone, Julianne Graham, Katie Grospitch and Camryn Helton are among the 11 student chairs helping lead DanceBlue, the student-run organization dedicated to supporting children and families receiving care through the DanceBlue Hematology/Oncology Clinic at Golisano Children's at UK.

The four CHS students hold leadership positions spanning the organization, from overall chair and operations chair to dancer relations chair and Mini Marathons chair. Together, they are helping bring the DanceBlue Chasing After Joy 5K to campus at Alumni Commons at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18.

Featuring a horse-racing theme inspired by the spirit of the Bluegrass, the event will invite participants to get “off to the races” in pursuit of joy. The experience will include a winner's circle photo backdrop, coffee and boutique merchandise, with each mile representing a letter in JOY. 

“The first mile we are chasing after Jarrett’s (of Jarrett’s Joy Cart) Legacy,” Graham said. “The second mile we are chasing after Our Impacts. The third mile we are chasing after Your Part in Seeing Joy Prevail.”

And for these students, the meaning behind the event goes far beyond the miles.

Leading with purpose

Boone, a Human Health Sciences major from Marion, Ky., serves as DanceBlue's overall chair. With a minor in healthcare communication and plans to become a physician assistant, she sees a natural connection between her studies and her work with DanceBlue.

The College of Health Sciences has helped her grow into the kind of healthcare provider and leader she hopes to become, she said, by challenging her to step outside her comfort zone and learn from people with different experiences and perspectives.

Those lessons have shaped how she approaches leadership and patient care.

“Effective communication means seeing people as whole individuals and understanding their unique experiences and needs,” Boone said.

That philosophy carries into her work with DanceBlue, where she has seen the difference a supportive community can make for children and families navigating difficult circumstances.

For Boone, DanceBlue is more than a student organization or fundraising effort. It helps create a place where children can experience joy, families can find support and healthcare providers can continue delivering meaningful care.

The impact, she said, extends well beyond the organization's signature 24-hour dance marathon.

“I DanceBlue for the people we serve and the people we serve with,” Boone said. “Once you witness its impact, it would be impossible not to.”

A mission that hits close to home

For Graham, DanceBlue has been part of her family’s story for as long as she can remember.

An undergraduate student in Human Health Sciences on the pre-physical therapy track from Lexington, Graham grew up seeing the organization's impact on children and families in her own community.

Her older brother was born extremely prematurely and spent much of his first few years in and out of the hospital. During some overnight stays, he was able to choose a toy from Jarrett’s Joy Cart, which for more than 25 years has provided toys and moments of happiness for children receiving care. The Joy Cart is the legacy of Nicholasville boy Jarrett Mynears, who gave toys to children in the hospital when he himself was a patient there.

Graham's parents described those moments as the first signs of hope beyond the hospital walls they had seen in days.

Later, two of Graham's childhood friends underwent cancer treatment and became survivors. Through their experiences, she began to understand the hope and healing that DanceBlue could help bring to families.

They began raising money to purchase toys for Jarrett's Joy Cart during the Christmas season. And Graham continued supporting DanceBlue through school fundraising events before bringing that commitment to UK.

Now serving as operations chair, Graham helps coordinate the logistics that make DanceBlue events possible.

“Every volunteer, logistical detail, and big and little acts of service play a role in creating the impacts that DanceBlue is able to create for Kentucky families,” Graham said.

Her work also complements what she is learning in CHS. Through coursework focused on holistic and interprofessional care, she is developing an understanding of how healthcare providers can work together to meet each patient's individual needs.

After graduation, Graham plans to attend physical therapy school with the goal of becoming a pediatric physical therapist.

She hopes the 5K will remind participants that every mile and every act of service can contribute to something much bigger.

From participant to leader

For Grospitch, a Communication Sciences and Disorders and Health Communication student from Lexington, DanceBlue has been a part of her life since middle school.

She first encountered the organization when Jessie Clark Middle School hosted a DanceBlue Mini Marathon during her seventh-grade year. By eighth grade, she was helping with the event and presenting its donation check.

The experience left a lasting impression.

She continued supporting DanceBlue through high school at Lafayette High School, where she helped lead a Mini Marathon that raised more than $43,000.

After arriving at UK, Grospitch joined a DanceBlue team, participated in the 5K, attended fundraising events and looked for additional ways to contribute. She danced in the 2024 marathon and soon applied to join the organization's committee.

Since then, she has served as returning teams coordinator and dancer outreach coordinator before stepping into her current role as dancer relations chair.

For Grospitch, the progression from middle school participant to campus leader has been a full-circle experience.

“It’s brought me so much joy to share this mission with our campus and continue carrying on Jarrett’s legacy,” she said.

Her CHS experience is helping prepare her for a future as a speech-language pathologist. Through supportive faculty, mentors and opportunities such as Therapy Abroad, she has gained experience applying classroom knowledge to real-world situations while developing the confidence and compassion she hopes to bring to her future patients.

She also sees a connection between her future profession and DanceBlue's mission: advocating for others, approaching people with empathy and recognizing the importance of community.

DanceBlue, she said, brings students, families and the broader Kentucky community together around a shared goal of creating more hope, joy and birthdays for children receiving care.

The little moments

Helton, a Human Health Sciences major from Paintsville, Ky., with a minor in pharmacology, arrived at UK without knowing much about DanceBlue.

That changed when she participated in the organization's 2024 marathon.

Standing in Rupp Arena for 24 hours, surrounded by students united for a cause bigger than themselves, Helton saw the organization's impact firsthand. She soon found a home on the Morale Committee, where she helped encourage and support fellow dancers.

She later served as the Mini Marathon recruitment coordinator before becoming chair.

In that role, Helton has experienced DanceBlue through the eyes of Kentucky's youngest participants, helping introduce children to the idea that they can make a difference for other children.

“Minis strive to empower kids to support other kids,” Helton said. “It is one of the greatest joys to be able to have a small part in that.”

Her CHS education has reinforced the importance of seeing patients as whole people rather than simply diagnoses. As a pre-med student, she has learned that caring for others requires more than scientific knowledge. It also demands curiosity, communication, understanding and a genuine commitment to service.

Those lessons align with what she has witnessed through DanceBlue, whether playing with children at the clinic, teaching the line dance at a Mini Marathon or watching families and students celebrate together.

The organization, she said, has given her a front-row seat to the life-changing impact of a community choosing to show up for others.

Chasing after joy

Although the four students bring different experiences to their leadership roles, they share a belief that small acts of service can create meaningful change.

Their work also reflects the connections they are building through the College of Health Sciences, where an emphasis on holistic care, collaboration and communication helps prepare students to serve people with compassion.

For these student leaders, those lessons extend beyond the classroom and into the community they serve through DanceBlue.

The Chasing After Joy 5K offers another opportunity for that community to come together. With its race-day atmosphere and a mile-by-mile celebration of JOY, the event will support the DanceBlue Hematology/Oncology Clinic at Golisano Children's at UK.

Whether participants run, walk or come out to show their support, the goal is the same: to help create moments of joy for children and families facing some of life's hardest challenges.

For Boone, Graham, Grospitch and Helton, that is what makes every mile worth it.