{"id":197543,"date":"2026-03-19T09:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T09:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197543\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T09:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T09:13:13","slug":"aepis-56-hour-rockathon-raises-more-than-43k-in-the-first-ten-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197543\/","title":{"rendered":"AEPi\u2019s 56-hour Rockathon raises more than $43K in the first ten hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Members of Alpha Epsilon Fraternity stand around Lorenzo Cavallino (chair) at the beginning of the Rockathon at Lakeside Patio on Wednesday, March 18. \/\/ Photo via Jimmy Koch.<\/p>\n

Lorenzo Cavallino sat in a rocking chair at 10:30 a.m. on Lakeside Patio on Wednesday, March 18. He\u2019s not planning on standing up until Friday at 6:30 p.m., by which time he will have rocked in the chair for 56 hours.<\/p>\n

Cavallino, a sophomore studying industrial engineering, is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and this year\u2019s \u201crocker\u201d for AEPi\u2019s Rockathon fundraiser benefitting the Gift of Life Marrow Registry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gift of Life is a non-profit organization that aims to cure blood cancer by facilitating bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplants. Through the organization, someone can have their cheek swabbed and join the registry of donors. Then, they have the possibility of matching with a patient in need.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Video of Lorenzo Cavallino sitting down for the first time at the Alpha Epsilon Pi Rockathon on Lakeside Patio at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18. \/\/ Photo via Jimmy Koch.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Koch, a senior studying biology and last year\u2019s co-philanthropy chair for AEPi, said that a lot of thought went into which organization they wanted to support, but as soon as he saw that Gift of Life is one of AEPi\u2019s national affiliates<\/a>, he was \u201chooked.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I\u2019m passionate about blood cancer is because my mom had it twice now. Once when I was a baby and once when I was in sixth grade,\u201d Koch said. \u201cShe required STEM cell transplants both times. Because of those transplants she was able to get healthy again and is still with us today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every $60 raised at the Rockathon funds the processing of one of the swab kits. Last year, the event resulted in about 8,000 processes and three matches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best notification I\u2019ve ever received on my phone, truly, is that \u2018you have a match\u2019 notification,\u201d Koch said.<\/p>\n

At the time of publishing, AEPi has raised more than $43K<\/a>, about 73% of their $60K goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This event is only the second time UM\u2019s chapter of AEPi hosted a Rockathon. Last year, the fraternity had 129 people swab their cheeks to join the registry and raised more than $53,000 over the 55 hours that Christopher Genovese \u2014 a senior at the Herbert Business School \u2014 spent rocking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would do it again, but I would like to pass it onto a younger guy. A younger fella,\u201d Genovese told The Hurricane<\/a> at last year\u2019s Rockathon.<\/p>\n

Cavallino, as Genovese\u2019s fraternity little, was the natural choice to rock this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Christopher Genovese (back) and Lorenzo Cavallino (front) on the Lakeside Patio after Cavallino sat down for the first time at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18. \/\/ Photo via Jimmy Koch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was with [Genovese] probably 30 of the 55 hours last year, so I had a feeling I was going to want to do it,\u201d Cavallino said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m more than happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea for a Rockathon came from the University of Missouri\u2019s AEPi chapter, which had been hosting a Rockathon fundraiser every other year for the last 55 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UM\u2019s chapter worked closely with Missouri AEPi as they coordinated last year\u2019s event and learned \u201cwhat it means to actually have a Rockathon and have a guy on a chair for three days straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The development community engagement coordinator for Gift of Life, Alexander Gonzalez, has also worked closely with UM\u2019s AEPi since the fraternity first presented the idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gonzalez got involved with Gift of Life in 2021 when he was matched with a patient in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was called as a match to somebody who was battling ALM, which is acute myeloid leukemia, and I ended up donating STEM cells and saved his life,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cHe is five years post-transplant now, which is a really amazing, amazing feat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gonzalez volunteered with the organization before turning it into his full-time job. When members of AEPi reached out to Gift of Life and suggested a Rockathon, Gonzalez said he thought they were \u201ccrazy\u201d at first.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, the more he spoke with the fraternity, he could see how organized they were and how clear of a goal they had.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis chapter specifically at the University of Miami really took it to the next level,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cThey\u2019re out here getting people to swab and join the registry, but you know, they\u2019re also fundraising to help put those kids into the registry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rockathon not only benefits the community, but it brings the fraternity together and gives all of the brothers a collective mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beckham Boymel, a freshman studying business management and a new member of AEPI, highlighted that he was getting to enjoy time with his fraternity brothers all while working to save lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was raining, we were still all here having a good time, just supporting Lorenzo, making sure that he knows we\u2019re all here and we\u2019re all part of this together, \u201d Boymel said. \u201cAnd then, obviously, trying to raise money for a good cause. Not only that, they\u2019re swabbing people and you have a chance to save a life, so it\u2019s very very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Members of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity stand behind the swabbing table at the Rockaton at Lakeside Patio on Wednesday, March 18. \/\/ Photo via Jimmy Koch.<\/p>\n

AEPi also involved other campus organizations in the Rockathon and created student incentives in hopes of further uniting UM\u2019s community and raising more money for a good cause.<\/p>\n

For instance, Patio Jams moved some of the Rockathon\u2019s couches out of the way and played music to attract more students, and members of Koch\u2019s pre-health organization helped swab cheeks. The fraternity is also hosting a field goal raffle at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 19.<\/p>\n

The first student to make the kick wins $1,000 and up to five students may receive the opportunity, since each student selected from the raffle only has one chance before the ball is passed to the next person.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other members of Greek Life are also incentivized to participate in Rockathon. Each sorority is a team competing to see who can raise the most money, and they are also competing against AEPi itself. The fraternity is divided into six groups \u2014 each with a fundraising captain \u2014 to see which team could raise the most money.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, the money raised this year has totaled to more than 731 swab kits processed. Click here<\/a> to make a donation to AEPi\u2019s Rockathon.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of Alpha Epsilon Fraternity stand around Lorenzo Cavallino (chair) at the beginning of the Rockathon at Lakeside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-197543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}