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Interview by Karis Balmer
Content by Samantha England
Introducing our October Corporate Sponsor of the month, Captive Alternatives!
Carter Sims is the Director of Marketing for Captive Alternatives and a recent IUDM alum.
What made you want to get involved with IUDM in the first place?
Carter was involved with Dance Marathon for years before college, at Bloomington South High School. “I didn’t really have a connection to the hospital at first, until I learned that one of my good friends was very briefly a Riley patient,” he told us, “We were helping sick kids to help them, but this person really had an impact on me. So if Riley wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.” Once he started college at Indiana University, he knew IUDM was something he wanted to be a part of. “This is the most selfless thing you can do, during the most selfish time in your life,” he said. Carter spent four years as a student in IUDM, during which he served as a Fundraising Chair and the Director of the Morale committee.
Why did you choose to continue your involvement with corporate sponsorship?
When Carter graduated from IU and started working at Captive Alternatives, one of his first goals was to make the company a corporate sponsor, and for the right reasons. “We’re not looking for clout, we’re trying to help you guys make a change,” he said. As an alum, IUDM was an organization that he wanted to continue working with throughout his career, and encourage others to do the same. “We try to inspire other companies to just get involved even if it doesn’t help you in a business sense; it always helps you in a moral sense.”
How has IUDM made an impact on your life?
“What it’s taught me is to do good,” Carter told us, “It’s really easy to do well in life, but to do good, that takes something else.” He emphasized that the impact IUDM leaves lasts far longer than your time as a student. Giving back to the organization as a sponsor and doing good in the world are lifelong skills that IUDM gave Carter. Not to mention the connections that he made along the way. “I found my family with Dance Marathon,” Carter said.
Final words to anyone starting their IUDM journey:
Carter’s advice to students considering joining this organization is to give it your all. “The more you put into it the more you will get out,” he said, “It’s not just a club. You have no idea the ride you’re about to go on.” To other potential sponsors, Carter says “Just give. It will not hurt you in the long run. [IUDM] is only as strong as the number of people that support them.”
We would like to give a huge thanks to Carter Sims and everyone at Captive Alternatives who help make IU Dance Marathon possible! We appreciate you and your support so much.