The laughter, the B+ message, the inside jokes and the people. These are just a few of the things that inspire people to become involved with NOVAdance’s morale committee (MoCo) and what keeps them coming back.
Led by MoCo Chair Sam Blume, Blue Team Captain Angie Rodriguez, Orange Team Captain Jordyn Mann, Green Team Captain Maddy Guarini and Red Team Captain John Tropeano, MoCo is a way for anyone in the Villanova community to become involved with NOVAdance.
Students can become a member of MoCo up until the day of the dance marathon, which is taking place on March 29 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Jake Nevin. The purpose of MoCo is to serve as a place for students who want to be involved with NOVAdance, no matter their ability to commit to differing positions within the organization.
“You have people who are the absolute most involved person on the planet, and then you have someone who maybe just heard about NOVAdance yesterday, and they are now at the same meeting, hearing the exact same thing, talking to the exact same people,” Tropeano said. “I feel like it’s a great way to actually build that community and build that family that we try to build.”
MoCo members take a pledge to fundraise a minimum of $167 dollars, which signifies the 167 days the B+ Foundation’s namesake, Andrew McDonough, fought against pediatric cancer.
In order to meet and exceed these fundraising minimums, the MoCo captains have increased the friendly competition aspect of raising money this year by introducing the MoCo Cup.
“I think it has really helped engagement,” Mann said. “Everyone hates to lose…and it is nice to see people put in effort. MoCo is something that is hard to get engagement out of, just because it is such a low commitment thing, but things like that, competition, are things that people actually want to be involved in.”
A MoCo moment a lot of members look forward to is learning what color team helped fundraise the most amount of money. The rankings are shared at the end of the dance marathon.
“I’ll have people on my color team come up to me and be, like, ‘Oh, what place are we at, how many points did we get?’ And then I’ll tell them, ‘Oh, we went down the rankings or we went up the rankings,’” Rodriguez said. “It’s a lot of fun getting to see people interact in that capacity.”
Since the beginning of the year, there have been MoCo meetings held every week to spread the B+ message throughout Villanova’s community.
“We have a Be Informed meeting, a Be Engaged meeting and a Be Positive meeting that we ask all of our MoCo members to attend,” Blume said. “Our Be Informed meeting really is focused on getting to know our B+ Heroes, getting to know what NOVAdance is…Be Engaged meetings are aimed at the people that want to get a more behind the scenes, hands on experience with NOVAdance. We have different sub-committees come in to speak to the MoCo members about what they do in NOVAdance, and then we usually do an activity that supports that sub-committee…Be Positive meetings are really aimed at the people who join NOVAdance to meet new people. Wanting to meet new people is just as valid of a reason to get involved with NOVAdance as the mission itself.”
While the day of the dance marathon is fun and exciting, it can also be overwhelming with emotions.
“I always say it is really important for reflection,” Mann said. “Whether that is standing at the back of the room and looking at everyone that is there, or going to the reflection room, it is nice to ground yourself and actually realize why you are there.”
In addition to reflection, Hero Hour is one that touches the hearts of many.
“I’m looking most forward to Hero Hour,” Blume said. “If there is one hour you can come to all day long, come to Hero Hour…it is really special to hear our Hero Liaisons speak about the special connects we, as the Villanova community have made with these children who are battling something so incredibly difficult, and it really just means a lot to see that the things that we have been doing all year have really paid off.”
However, the MoCo captains ask that you prepare to stay longer than an hour.
“My advice is just come,” Guarini said. “You can’t describe what it is until you come. If you are coming on going for an hour, plan to be there for more than an hour…if you are planning on coming and you think you are only going to be there for two hours, no, you are going to be there for five. You are going to want to be there for the whole time.”
MoCo is just one of the many moving parts of NOVAdance and the work put in throughout the entire year helps make such an impact on the lives of the B+ Heroes and their families.
