Feature: Spinning for a cause

Spinning at Dillon Gymnasium will be more meaningful than usual today, as the gym will be hosting its second annual Spinathon to promote Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for pediatric cancer.

About 25 participants — a mix of students, faculty and staff — have signed up for one-hour intervals on one of Dillon’s stationary bikes from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“So far, it is mostly people who are probably already signed up for spinning classes, but we don’t limit it,” said Susan Crane, director of group and instructional fitness at Dillon. “If there are people from campus who haven’t done it before and want to try it, it’s a good opportunity to try a class and benefit a good cause at the same time.”

Crane brought the Spinathon idea with her last year after coming to Princeton from Towson University, where she had created a similar project. That project grew into one of the foundation’s top 10 fundraisers in the country.

“I wanted to bring it here in some capacity,” Crane explained. “I thought a good way [to raise money] is spinning because the people are pretty loyal. They spin year in and year out and a lot of people know each other and hang out outside spinning. They are going to come in anyway, so let’s be grateful for everything we have and for our health, and do something good for someone else.”

Last year, the Spinathon and a supplementary benefit Zumba class raised about $2,500 for the foundation.

Two avid spinners, Leigh Lieberman GS and Mallory Monaco GS, dressed up in costumes throughout the day to raise awareness of the event and gathered almost $400 for the cause.

“We heard about the event and were really jazzed about putting all our energy to a good cause,” Lieberman explained. “We biked for four hours last year, and it was a bit more tiring than expected ... We decided to wear costumes — which consisted of brightly colored leggings and homemade T-shirts — the entire day of the ride in order to raise awareness around campus and in our classes. Most of our support came from members of our respective departments, family and friends around town.”

Lieberman and Monaco are planning to spin for four hours again this year, and they hope to rival their donations from last year.

Freshman Tim O’Leary decided to participate in the Spinathon after receiving an e-mail about it and looking up the foundation.

“Alex’s Lemonade Stand is a wonderful foundation that has quite an inspirational origin, so I want to make a contribution,” he said. O’Leary began taking thrice-weekly spinning classes at Dillon this year, and he said he enjoys the intense workout.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand was started by Alex Scott, a 6-year-old neuroblastoma patient from the Philadelphia area.

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She started a lemonade stand in her neighborhood to raise money for her hospital and help other sick children. After Alex passed away in 2004, her parents started the national foundation in her honor.

“It’s a really special foundation,” Crane said. “People get involved in many different ways. Some people literally have lemonade stands in their neighborhoods. At Towson, we built a quirky lemonade stand and trucked it around to all student events on campus. We had people give us $25 for a glass of lemonade, or a quarter for a glass, and it all built up.”

The Spinathon is not Dillon’s only charity event. It also sponsors the Tiger Trot 5K run in the fall, which doubles as a food drive and fundraiser for the Crisis Ministry of Princeton.

Crane said she would like to continue doing fundraisers alongside Dillon’s programs.

“I want to remind people that there is a broader community out there to be concerned about,” Crane said. “We can get very hung up on things like ‘Treadmill five is broken!’ We need to think about the bigger picture.”