Hatters dance for a good cause
First ever Dancing in the Hat fundraiser raises more than $55K in support of Meals for Moms
Medicine Hat had its own version of Dancing with the Stars Saturday, with a number of local celebrities taking the stage with dance professionals for a good cause.
Dancing in the Hat ran for the first time and was held in front of a sold out crowd at Medalta, with all of the funds raised being donated to the Meals for Moms Society — a not-for-profit that delivers meals to moms with newborns.
“My husband and I came up with the idea after seeing something similar done in a smaller community in Saskatchewan,” said Meals for Moms found Kara Danroth. “We just had such a good time at that one so we decided to try and make it happen here.
“All of the money will go to supporting our charity.”
The event featured a number of well known Hatters in the community, with the audience donating money to a certain dancer — the dancer with the most money raised would be crowned the winner.
Danroth says the charity is an important one for the community.
“We make and deliver meals to moms for no cost,” she said. “We’ve delivered over 500 meals within our city and we try to offer moms with newborns a bit of a break where we can.”
The charity is reliant on volunteers and has been delivering food since early 2015. Going into the night Danroth was hoping to raise roughly $20,000 — but the event ended up raising more than $55,000.
“We’re hoping to raise $20,000 tonight — that would be really big for us,” said Danroth. “We’re making a big impact on the community and we’re thrilled to do that.”