In 2013, Joe McDonough came to Villanova University to share information about the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation with students for the first time. It was an experience that became tradition.
In the 13 years since, $4,758,944 has been raised through Villanova’s chapter of the B+ Foundation, NOVAdance.
The Foundation, which is named after Joe McDonough’s son Andrew, aims to raise money and awareness for families battling or who have battled a case of pediatric cancer. The foundation’s namesake, Andrew, fought a 167-day battle with AML Leukemia before passing away in 2007. Andrew’s blood type was B+, and that became his and his family’s motto.
After Andrew’s passing, the McDonough family has not stopped their efforts to ensure other families are taken care of and supported throughout the hard times during these diagnoses and beyond.
After hearing McDonough’s talk to students, a member of Sigma Nu and a member of Delta Delta Delta banded together to bring the B+ Foundation to Villanova, and NOVAdance was born.
In their inaugural year, their goal was for 350 students to become involved and to raise $20,000. In 2025, the Jake Nevin Field House was packed as the committee revealed that $708,269.10 were raised. This year, the fundraising goal is $800,000.
This year, the Day Of dance marathon will be taking place on the Cabrini campus. But what has happened in the years that have led to NOVAdance today?
Eighteen B+ Heroes have been matched with Villanova organizations, alongside forever Hero Andrew. Millions of dollars have been raised. NOVAdance has hosted countless tabling events and dine-out days.
While there were setbacks due to COVID-19, NOVAdance has not missed a year of the Day-Of since the tradition began. Instead, the Day-Of was moved to Zoom in 2020 and hosted outdoors in 2021. Fundraising efforts have increased year after year.
The $800,000 goal is ambitious, yet current Co-Executive Directors (CEDs) Grant LeMay and Annie O’Brien believe NOVAdance will continue to grow for years to come.
“I am fairly confident that the CEDs on this campus [right now] who will lead NOVAdance to a million dollar [year],” LeMay said. “I think we are well on our way if we are able to maintain this momentum. I think it would be an honor to be a stepping stone on that path, so hopefully in a few years we will see that.”
Over the years, B+ Heroes have been connected with different Greek Life chapters and other organizations on Villanova’s campus. The first Heroes matched were Danny with Sigma Nu and Lilly with Blue Key, both paired in 2014.
The other B+ Heroes on Villanova’s campus include Christos who is paired with Alpha Phi Omega, Correll paired with Delta Delta Delta, Ellie with Alpha Chi Omega, Harry with Alpha Gamma Delta, Jack with NOVAdance Committee, James with Phi Sigma Pi, Julia with Chi Omega, Pascal with Beta Theta Pi, Sebastian with Pi Kappa Phi, Blair who is forever matched with Delta Gamma, Frankie who is forever matched with Kappa Delta, Jibil who is forever matched with Delta Delta Delta and Tony who is forever matched with Alpha Phi Omega. These Heroes are joined and celebrated alongside the first forever B+ Hero, Andrew.
This year, the NOVAdance and Villanova communities welcomed two new Heroes: Alice, who is paired with Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Omar, who is paired with Phi Sigma Kappa.
The Heroes are celebrated on stage each year during Hero Hour, which will be taking place from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. this year.
“During Hero Hour, you see [the Heroes] being celebrated on stage,” LeMay said. “They are super excited, some of them are super shy about it, but backstage they are just beaming. Regardless of if they go on stage shy, backstage, they have so much energy, they are beaming, they are incredibly excited for what is about to happen.”
At the beginning of each Hero Hour, McDonough comes and speaks to those in attendance on the Day Of. Reminding the Villanova community about the reason behind the fundraising: the Heroes.
LeMay and O’Brien, both current seniors, have seen NOVAdance grow exponentially in the past four years.
“We always talk about having the privilege to be CEDs at a time when there is so much momentum in the organization overall,” O’Brien said. “Being able to increase by $100,000 every single year that we have seen so far, and trying to do that again this year, is just kind of unfathomable. I think that we are hoping to see this momentum continue after we graduate, and I think that the move to Cabrini is a big part of this, because it means NOVAdance can continue to grow and to continue to welcome more people to the Day-Of and into involvement groups overall.”
In this year alone, NOVAdance has grown tremendously, with a record-breaking number of Engagement Coordinators (ECs) and Sidekicks, as well as growth in Greek Life and athletics participation.
Yet, NOVAdance does not work alone. For the past six years, NOVAdance has teamed up with UDance, The University of Delaware’s B+ Chapter, for their annual NOVAdance versus UDance fundraising day, during which NOVAdance raised over $120,000 in a day this past February. UDance has only beaten NOVAdance once, in 2025.
“Something super interesting is our partnership with the University of Delaware,” LeMay said. “Learning through them, they are a $2,000,000 dance marathon and have been going for 20 years. This will be their 20th dance marathon. Seeing how they have been able to sustain that growth and continue growing…I think [this] is something that we see totally happening over the next couple years.”
The work is not yet done. The week leading up to the Day-Of is “Why Week”, when different organizations and members of NOVAdance will come together to continue fundraising efforts and initiatives leading up to the dance marathon, where fundraising will continue until senior members of committee reveal the fundraising total on stage.
Throughout the history of NOVAdance, many things have changed: locations, the students and Heroes in attendance, the fundraising amount, the food served, the music played, and, of course, the moves in the annual line dance. Yet, the mission is the same. Everything is done for the kids. Always.
