Dancing with a purpose
Music played through the streets in downtown Gainesville as dancers gathered to raise funds to support and give back to students in the community while having fun and learning a new dance at the same time.
BLSSD Future and the Gainesville chapter of Smooth Flava Dance hosted a ”Teach Me To Dance" fundraiser on Saturday at Bo Diddley Plaza located at 111 E. University Ave. to support I AM STEM LLC, a summer program focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics that target populations who are underrepresented in STEM fields.
The city of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department provided support for the fundraising event.
Smooth Flava Dance, a line dancing organization, and I AM STEM have been offering summer STEM programs in East Gainesville for the past 10 years and have been in collaboration with Caring and Sharing Learning School for about five years, said Wanda Lloyd, lead instructor of Smooth Flava Dance
“I love teaching our children and I see everyday in the classroom how much more is needed for them to be successful in this world of technology,” said Lloyd, a third grade teacher at Talbot Elementary School. “If we don't help, who will?”
Smooth Flava Dance has hosted four fundraising events raising money through its newly-registered 501c3 called BLSSD Future Inc., and each year the fundraising event has increased its donations.
It raised $2,600 in its first year, $5,000 the second year, $8,500 in its third year and this past summer the event raised $10,000.
“Our goal is always more than the year before,” Lloyd said.
Natalie King, Ph.D., I AM STEM’s founder and executive director, said she started offering STEM camps in East Gainesville in 2012 and has partnered with Caring and Sharing Learning School under the auspices of I AM STEM since 2017.
“The fundraisers provide a deeper purpose for community engagement as they support children's access to high-quality programming and STEM education,” King said.
Children who attend the 2022 I AM STEM Camp at Caring and Sharing Learning School will benefit from Saturday’s fundraiser.
The donations subsidize the cost of the camp to ensure that it is accessible to all families.
Some funds are used to provide scholarships for families in need while the contributions also pay for swimming lessons, field trips, supplies and personnel.
“People in the dance community attend for a good time, but are encouraged to participate because their donations are going toward a great cause,” King said.
Dozens of dancers wearing their red and black “Straight Outta Smooth Flava” t-shirts gathered in the center of the lawn to line dance.
Line dancing is a choreographed dance where a group of people dance to a repeating sequence of steps with dancers are arranged in rows.
Carla Davis has been a Smooth Flava dancer for three years and said she enjoys dancing while giving back to the community.
“This is for the kids,” Davis said. “In this town, children don’t have enough to do. They need more things to do in the community. The money raised will be for transportation, food and clothes for the children. Whatever she (Lloyd) does for the community is from her heart. “
Derrick “Dance Fever” Terrell was the emcee for the event and was glad to see the crowd participate for a good cause.
“This is what it’s all about,” Terrell said. “We appreciate everyone who shows up and comes out to support us.”
If people were unable to attend the fundraising event, Lloyd wants people to continue to donate to help students in the area.
“Different dance styles were being introduced and crowd participation was encouraged,” Lloyd said. “Everyone benefits from the success of our youth and we should all sew into our future. Dance with purpose has been our theme.”
To donate to the I AM STEM camp, donations are accepted at
www.paypal.me/blssdfuture or CashApp $blssdfuture.