2021 Dance for a Chance Raises $109K for Homeless Youth
After months of practicing and fundraising -- and a year delay due to the pandemic -- YES' 2021 Dance for a Chance: The Roaring Twenty-Twenties was a tremendous success!
Presented by Lindsay Corporation, the annual fundraising event -- YES' biggest of the year -- was Thursday, October 7, once again at the Omaha Design Center.
Dance for a Chance features a mix of community and business leaders who are learning a dance while also raising money to provide services and resources for homeless and near-homeless youth in our community.
This year's event raised more than $109,000 BECAUSE OF YOUR GENEROSITY! We can't THANK YOU ENOUGH for helping us exceed our post-pandemic goal.
Congratulations to Xavier Carr of Lasik Plus and his partner Leigh Chaves for getting the highest marks from our judging panel to win Best Dance Performance. Chaves also won in 2019.
And MANY THANKS to Katie Kuhl of Medical Solutions for getting the MOST VOTES and RAISING THE MOST MONEY, well over $30,000 to be our Fundraising Champion.
Similar to Dancing with the Stars, Dance for a Chance pairs up dancers with instructors, who then work together over a series of weeks to create a dance, pick accompanying music and practice before competing in October.
At the same time, the dancers are working within their personal and professional networks – largely via social media – to raise awareness and money for Youth Emergency Services.
Suffice it to say, this fundraiser is UNLIKE ANY OTHER each year in the community -- and everyone has a GREAT TIME DOING IT!
"We are so grateful to everyone who supported Dance for a Chance this year, particularly our dancers and instructors for the tremendous amount of time and effort they gave to raise so much money and perform at such a high level," said Barb Farho, YES Director of Development.
"We also thank all of our sponsors, silent auction donors, volunteers, staff -- everyone who helped make this year's event such a tremendous success. We have already started planning next year's event!"
Thank You to this year's Dancers (listed alphabetically):
- Mikaela Borecky, OBI Creative
- Xavier Carr, Lasik Plus
- Aaron Jensen, Lindsay Corporation
- Katie Kuhl, Medical Solutions
- Precious Lesley, North End Teleservices and YES Board member
- Patrice Ott, Koley Jessen
- Jeff Shullaw, Midwest Medical Transport
- Stephanie Sullivan, Food Bank for the Heartland
Thank You to this year's Instructors:
- Leigh Chaves – JCC Dance Department
- Jared Dominguez – Vintage Ballroom
- Rebecca Hamata – Bellevue Dance Academy
- Kari Kratky – Independent
- Derek Pasqualetto – Vintage Ballroom
- Rebekah Pasqualetto – Vintage Ballroom
- Lucas Vargas – Vintage Ballroom
- Terry Vargas – TV Dance
Lindsay Corporation returned as this year’s Presenting Sponsor, after several years as a YES Champion level sponsor. Medical Solutions was a first-time sponsor at the YES Champion level. Midwest Medical Transport was a first-time sponsor as the Speakeasy Sponsor, and Lund-Ross Constructors was this year's Virtual Telecast sponsor.
Check out PHOTOS from the evening on our Facebook Event Page! Thank you to Debra Kaplan for taking such wonderful photos!
Watch YES SOCIAL MEDIA in the coming months for the date of next year's Dance for a Chance! We look forward to seeing you!
Thank you to our 2021 Event Sponsors*:
Presenting Sponsor: Lindsay Corporation
YES Champion Sponsor: Medical Solutions
YES Speakeasy Sponsor: Midwest Medical Transport
Virtual Telecast Sponsor: Lund Ross Constructors
Supporter Sponsors: Koley Jessen Valmont AO Luma Services Security National Bank Burlington Capital
Media Sponsors: metroMagazine Midlands Business Journal
*Please contact Director of Development Barb Farho to learn more about how your organization/business can help support YES with a Dance for a Chance sponsorship!
