Kids Helping Kids dance marathon supports Creative Kids programs
Dance Images by BJ fundraiser once again a huge success
Every year, the head instructors at the Dance Images by BJ dance school ask their oldest dancers the question of whether they would be willing to put in all the time and effort needed to put together the Kids Helping Kids Dance Marathon, all with the goal of raising money to help the Creative Kids charitable organization.
It’s a time-consuming effort that extends for months leading into a long day.
Yet every year for the last six years, the answer has been a resounding ‘yes’. The 2018 edition of the event took place on Nov. 25 at the Dance Images studio, featuring around 100 dancers performing throughout the morning and afternoon, all with the goal of bringing in funds for a deserving charity. “This year they were definitely excited about putting it together,” said school assistant director Shauna Bzdel. “It’s quite a bit of work and since the beginning of October, we’ve been meeting and having our planning committee going over all the details, making sure we have the organized plan, business spon- sors, sending out the pledge forms for all the dancers, getting treat bags organized for them and gathering prizes for the highest donations. But it all pays off when the day actually comes.”
The end result this year was $6,500 raised for the Creative Kids charitable organization, which helps youngsters become involved in artistic pursuits like dance, music and acting.
“That’s something that’s really important, and we’ve been talking to our dancers about that quite a bit, how lucky they are to be in dancing since so many kids don’t get that opportunity,” Bzdel said. “So this is a great way to even help teach our younger dancers to be more thoughtful and giving, and appreciative over what they have, since there are kids out there that aren’t as lucky as they are.”
Action got underway at 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, November 25th, with classes rotating in from youngest to oldest every hour or so until the marathon’s conclusion at 2:15 p.m. Fundraising efforts focus on dancers receiving pledges for their participation in the marathon and have been nothing but successful over the years, to the tune of over $65,000 raised for Creative Kids through the event’s existence. “So, it’s a really big event here at the studio since it’s important to be trying to find ways to give back to the community and teach our kids how good that can feel,” Bzdel said. “It’s always great to see things turn out as well as they did this year and knowing that we’ll be able to help out someone in need.” Dance Images by BJ is located at 117 Iroquois St. West and features dance instruction in ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, lyrical and hip hop. Contact the school at 306-692-0515 for more information.