Six Dollars for McDonalds' Coke

By Elena Golubovich

Bobcathon’s heart and soul manifests itself in its president, who helps raise thousands of dollars each year for charity.

Ohio University’s Baker Ballroom fills with students eagerly waiting for the start of Bobcathon, a twelve-hour dance marathon that raises money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMH). The energy is high and the President of Bobcathon, Courtney Homan, is overseeing the entire operation until the end of the day.

The stage is set up at the far end of the ballroom and participants flood the surrounding areas under rainbow lights. Homan speaks into an earpiece plugged into a walkie-talkie that connects her to the rest of her leadership team spread around the giant room. She’s dressed in a simple white T-shirt with the Bobcathon logo scrawled across the front. Her nails are painted to match the logo, a gradient of teal to evergreen. She’s been here since 8 a.m., although the marathon doesn’t officially begin until noon.

Homan is finishing her final year at Ohio University with a major in Communications and minors in Marketing and Sport Administration. Originally from Cincinnati, Homan grew up with an older sister, Taylor, and two loving parents, Scott and Gaynell. In the first grade, her mother received a diagnosis: breast cancer. Throughout elementary school, Homan saw her mother go through rounds of chemo and surgery to fight the disease.

“I was like, ‘Mom’s sick and I don’t know why,’” she says. “I can’t even imagine being the kid in the situation and having cancer.”

Her mother’s illness was a big factor in her passion to give back to kids and families fighting health problems. As a result, she became very close with her sister and eventually followed her to Ohio University. Taylor Homan, a senior when Homan was a freshman, was actively involved in Bobcathon and drew her younger sister to join the team. Homan knew of RMH and what it did for families, but had never even visited one until two weeks before her first Bobcathon.

“As a college student, even I felt like a kid again in that house,” she says. “It lets kids be kids again. It felt like Disney World.”

Homan jokes that she majors in Bobcathon, throwing her hands in the air with an unapologetic shrug. Even with her heavy involvement, Homan has never been a regular dancer. She applied to be on a committee her freshman year but the leader of her group dropped out, leaving the leadership position open. Homan took it and never looked back, climbing the executive ladder quickly and claiming the presidency by her senior year. During that time, she’s raised close to $3,000 and is about to total over $5,000. Her sister supports her passion and love for Bobcathon by donating every year at the last minute to help Homan reach her goal. Taylor came back Homan’s sophomore year and participated in Bobcathon as a volunteer, helping the team in any way she could. While Homan was working the marathon, Taylor brought her a gift of McDonald’s Coke for a caffeine and energy boost – it’s become a tradition for them.

“I went to work [this year] and my sister Venmoed me $6 for some McDonalds Cokes,” Homan says. “And I just started crying.”

In the short amount of time since its founding, Bobcathon has already amassed a large following of dancers and donations that are sent to RMH of Central Ohio during the 12-hour fundraiser in February. As a nationwide phenomenon, Bobcathon is the Ohio University chapter of the Thon fundraiser for RMHs everywhere. Originally founded at Penn State with 78 dancers in 1973, Thon is the largest student-run philanthropy in the country, according to the official website of Thon.org.

The Ronald McDonald House Charity is a foundation meant to help families with sick children who require constant or urgent treatment. Hospital bills can add to the already-growing stress of taking care of a sick kid; hotel bills and taking care of siblings makes the entire situation practically impossible for families to balance. But the RMHs provide free room, board and food to help ease the family’s stress, as well as day care for siblings who require attention or care. It costs RMHC $100 to allow a family to stay for free; This year, Bobcathon’s goal is $110,000, raising it $10,000 more than last year’s achieved number.

“I can’t imagine what Bobcathon’s going to be like without her as our president next year,” says Bailey Fink, Director of Greek Life on the Bobcathon leadership team. “Bobcathon is basically her life.”

Homan’s humble and sweet demeanor downplays another side to her personality: a persistent and determined leader who cares for her team and their cause. She encourages her officers always, even when they feel discouraged about their efforts or ideas. As the leader of Bobcathon, she can easily become overwhelmed by the details and stress that comes with the job. Despite the obstacles, she holds her composure well and leads the team with the passion, innovation and motivated mindset needed to raise over a hundred thousand dollars each year.

“Since April, she [Homan] never once doubted that we would hit our goal,” Fink says.

As the day goes on, Homan deals with obstacles like monitoring the donations and glitches in the slideshows, but she handles it with a cool and calm reaction that reassures her team and finds solutions to various problems. At the end, she gives a speech thanking everyone for their dedication, hard work and participation before the leadership team reveals the total to be $110, 020.06, evoking a roar of cheers and applause from the exhausted dancers. Emotions high, Homan hugs the other leaders and lets the tears run freely. At the end of her presidency, she’s taken the organization another $10,000 higher and helped cover 1,100 nights of stay to families in need, furthering her legacy.