DANCING WITH THE STARS OF CHARLOTTE
CHARITY SNAPSHOT
On March 7, six Charlotte community and corporate leaders will take the Knight Theater stage and raise funds for Charlotte Ballet and six local charitable organizations. Explore the page below to learn more about our star dancer pairs and the charities they are dancing to benefit.
$1=1 Vote! Cast your vote today by making a donation. All donations received are split 50/50 with Charlotte Ballet and the Star Dancer’s chosen charity.
NINA & JOSH
Dancing for READ Charlotte.
Read Charlotte is a ten-year (2015-2025) community initiative that unites families, educators and community partners to improve children’s literacy from birth through third grade. Reading proficiency at third grade is a critical predictor of school, career and life success. Children who are not reading at grade level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school. Our goal is to double the percentage of third graders reading on grade level from 39% in 2015 to 80% by 2025.
Our Work in the Charlotte Community
Read Charlotte coordinates, integrates and aligns people, resources and data to improve children’s literacy, striving to help the entire system excel at moving children down the Reading Success Pathway and scaling what works across Mecklenburg County. Read Charlotte is focused on three objectives: 1. Getting more children starting school ready to learn to read 2. Helping more K-3 students progress to reading proficiency and 3. Improving the birth-3rd grade early literacy system.
Funds raised will help the organization raise awareness, facilitate more partnerships and empower more families.
JENNIFER & JAMES
Dancing for The Relatives
Since 1974, The Relatives has been responding to the challenges and needs of homeless and at-risk youth and young adults in our community. They serve the most vulnerable youth in Charlotte – young people who are not just homeless or in crisis, but many who have aged out of public systems such as foster care, juvenile justice, and children’s mental health systems. The Relatives aims to empower these young adults to become self-advocates and find viable, long-term paths to success through a coordinated continuum of services that serves more than 5,000 youth and young adults every year. Ultimately, they help young people in crisis become thriving adults with the capacity for a healthy, fulfilling life. Lives change and our community is greatly enriched because of The Relatives!
JILL & JUWAN
Dancing for Charlotte Family Housing
Affordable housing has reached a crisis level in our community. Charlotte Family Housing (CFH) is on the front lines of the effort to address that need. CFH empowers working families experiencing homelessness to achieve long-term self-sufficiency. They do that by providing shelter, housing, supportive services, and advocacy. CFH’s team of social workers, resident advisors, housing resource coordinators, and volunteers provides a safety net for hard-working families who want to be productive and self-sufficient community members.
WILL & RAVEN
Dancing for UNC Charlotte Student Health Initiatives
In its 50 year history, the UNC Charlotte Athletic Foundation has provided scholarship assistance and support to thousands of student-athletes. This year the Athletic Foundation has pledged to support the athletic department’s emphasis on sports performance initiatives with additional resources for nutrition, sports psychology and mental health. On April 30, 2019, UNC Charlotte experienced its darkest day with a tragic shooting taking place on campus on the last day of class. All who know and love the university were forever changed and impacted by this senseless act of violence. In light of the tragedy on April 30th and with mental health and wellness issues on the rise nationally, Coach Healy is committed to ensuring there are available resources for students and student-athletes at the university.
RASU & SARAH
Dancing for Atrium Health Medical Education Endowment
Dr. Rasu Shrestha will be dancing to support the Atrium Health Medical Education Endowment, which supports scholarships for top medical students with an emphasis in community health initiatives. This endowment will support the recruitment of next generation physicians who are dedicated to providing individualized care and improved population health throughout the Southeast. Through this endowment, Atrium Health will assist with tuition for North Carolina’s brightest medical students in what we hope will be the most innovative medical school in the country, as the second state-of-the-art Wake Forest School of Medicine campus opens in Charlotte in the future.
MARTIN & SARAH
Dancing for The Dilworth Center
Founded in 1990, Dilworth Center has been a beacon of recovery in Charlotte and the surrounding North and South Carolina regions for thirty years. Located in the heart of Charlotte’s historic Dilworth neighborhood, we are a non-profit organization that offers outpatient treatment services for alcoholism and drug addiction. Our goal is to establish abstinence from alcohol and other drugs with an emphasis on continuous, long-term recovery. Our experienced and caring team of professionals has helped thousands of people unlock the door to a new life. For thirty years, we have had the pleasure of seeing relationships restored, families reconciled and lives transformed.
