Community & Business
27 May, 2023
Dancing for cause close to heart
PUTTING their passion for dance to good use, young local dancers spent last week raising money for the Ronald McDonald House’s Dance for Sick kids’ initiative, raising more than $6800 and smashing their goal of $1,120.
Dance for Sick Kids is an annual event where dancers clock their dance minutes whilst raising money for the Ronald McDonald House, which helps support families with seriously ill or injured kids receiving care away from home.
For the Mareeba Academy of Dance (MAD) family, the cause is very close to their heart with many of their friends and family utilising the house whilst undergoing medical help.
This is the second year the studio has participated, and MAD principal Regan Smith hopes their fundraising efforts will help families in need.
“We want to do it every year be-cause it is a charity that helps lots of kids and their families, especially in rural towns,” she said.
“It is such a wonderful thing for our students to be doing at such a young age and they all know of someone who has had to use the Ronald McDonald House at some stage.”
This year, senior dancer Faith Power has taken on the challenge alongside 12 of her teammates and has raised over $788 and danced 700 minutes in a week.
She said the cause was “very close to home” and she was grateful she could raise funds for such an important cause whilst doing what she loved.
“It’s important to our MAD family and it is good to be able to put our passions to good use,” she said.
“This is my second year participating and there’s a lot more people this year which is really good to see.
“We love it, and we love our MAD family and doing this together.”
This year’s participants were Faith Power, Gia Smith, Ava Srhoj, Abbie Buchgraber, Jordyn Buchgraber, Charlotte Hopton, Ruby Pollard, Indi Carleton, Poppi Cook, Sarah Broad, Talisha Eade, Skye Kazamias and Immi McLennan.
To support an individual dancer or the whole team, visit www.danceforsickkids.com/fundraisers/mareebaacademyofdance
