BY KATRINA BRANDON

 

DANCING all night long, Destination Dance has joined many others dancing to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House fundraiser ‘Dance For Sick Kids’.

The fundraiser, which ran from May 13 to May 19, invited anyone from anywhere to groove along for 30 minutes or more a day to raise money to help ill children spend a night in the Ronald McDonald House for free.

Destination Dance teacher Rebekah Symons said this is the group’s first year participating in the charity, and she has wanted to get involved for a while.

“I always wanted to do it, but I never felt motivated. I have signed up for it before but have never promoted it much,” she said.

“I never have really done it. This year, I just asked who wanted to join, and about 10 kids joined in. The money just kept coming in, and we were really shocked when we saw lots of donations come in. We just asked who wanted to do it.

“Because we are a dance school, we thought since we are dancing anyway, we might as well raise some money too.”

The dance school has raised more than $11,000, placing it sixth out of up to 100 groups. One of the girls from Destination Dance achieved just over $7000 with 1280 minutes danced during the week-long fundraiser. Ten-year-old Matilda’s funds raised a steady $7,001.

According to Ms Symons, when you raise $160 for one night at the Ronald McDonald House, you receive a ‘Dancing For Sick Kids’ t-shirt.

She said the group had a lot of fun participating in the fundraiser, and will likely do it again next year.

“Maybe, but I won’t have the expectation to be at the top again. It’s all for charity, for fun, to raise money for the sick kids,” she said.

“Many of our families have had to go to the Ronald McDonald House, so we are giving back on their behalf. We have had some kids that have been really sick, so we are doing it for them.”

Since 2017, Ms Symons has been the sole teacher at Destination Dance, teaching up to 50 children in many different dance genres. The dance school’s students range in age from two to 18 and have different abilities. Ms Symons said that everybody is welcome at the dance school, and that anyone can join in on the ‘Dance For Sick Kids’ fundraiser, even if they aren’t dancers.

For more information, go to danceforsickkids.com/