Local celebrities in dance competition to fund Big Brothers-Big Sisters
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of South Central Ohio is hoping “Dance for Kids’ Sake” will be as big a hit as the popular ABC-TV show “Dancing with the Stars”.
The newest fund raiser for the organization will feature local celebrities and their dancing professionals from Dance Magic, Billy Joe and Sherri Brown and their daughter Jenna.
BB/BS Executive Director Karen McDonald-Myers says the idea has been a hit elsewhere in the country, including for the Red Cross Chapter in Athens, Ohio. “There’s an agency that was doing this in El Paso (Texas)… they both did a great job, made a lot of money and we thought this could be the thing for Chillicothe”. The organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year is Bowl for Kids’ Sake which has tallied more than $60,000 in recent years. But with continued budget restraints, the non-profit has been seeking fresh ways to raise monies to help serve their kids across Southern Ohio. McDonald-Myers adds “Down the road, we’re hoping it’ll be as big as Bowl for Kids’ Sake, but in the meantime, we’re hoping it’ll be half as big as Bowl for Kids’ Sake.”
Eight local celebrity dancers (four women and four men) will compete in a one night performance at the Chillicothe Elks Hall on Saturday, November 3rd at 7pm. The event will be televised live on the Chillicothe local access channel (Ch. 24) of Time Warner Cable.
Dance Magic Professionals are donating 20 lessons for the celebrity dancers leading up to the event.
Dancers include, Emily Schmidt of the Ross-Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce, Zumba instructor Deb Adkins, Cari Steinbrook of Polished Comfort, Dr. Richard Villarreal, Rev. Troy Gray of Zion Baptist Church, Clear Channel Radio’s Dan Ramey and Mayor Jack Everson and his wife realtor Christine Everson.
McDonald-Myers adds the night will feature video packages much like what viewers of the hit TV show see plus video presentations of what Big Brothers/Big Sisters provides to its service area in addition to some of the matches of “Bigs and Littles”. “We’ll have an intermission show that will feature kids in our program, we’ll be talking about their matches or the fact that they’re not matched, and will give people an much better feel of what it is we do, to a whole new group.”
Tickets for Dance for Kids’ Sake will cost $35 with 8-person tables for $500. For more details, contact the BB/BS office at 740-773-2447 or by visiting www.bbbssco.org.
