USF student organization Dance Marathon raised $1,364.61 for All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg at the "Catwalk for Miracles" charity fashion show Tuesday.
USF graduate and director of the event Robin Roup said the event started as a way to promote the merchandise found in the campus bookstore, but it soon changed.
"A couple of my friends and I worked at the bookstore, and we wanted to put on a bookstore fashion show because there's so many great clothes there," Roup said.
As Roup and her friends began working on the fashion show, she decided to have it benefit a charity and made sure it was a Dance Marathon event, she said.
The event featured clothing and accessories from the USF Bookstore, as well as clothing designed by USF students, Roup said.
For Katherine White, one of the designers featured in the fashion show, the greatest benefit comes from knowing she helped out a charity.
"The staff and the volunteers (at All Children's) are amazing people, and the families there really deserve it," said White, a senior majoring in theater arts. "It's an amazing community."
The models used in the fashion show were all USF students, Roup said. Models are often friends of those involved with Dance Marathon, but this year a competition was held as a way to recruit more student models.
Sarah Greenberg, a junior majoring in mass communications and executive secretary for Student Government, decided to enter in Dance Marathon's model competition because the funds benefit the hospital.
"Dance Marathon is something that's really great because it just gives money to All Children's Hospital, and I'm from St. Petersburg, so it's something I'm really passionate about," Greenberg said. "I've always wanted to help children and this was an excellent way to help."