To say that I love to dance would be an understatement. I’ll bust a move in the middle of the grocery store if a good song comes on. Just ask my friends. I should take this chance to formerly apologize to my mother who signed me up for dance classes at age 3 in the hopes that I would learn there were appropriate places to dance (ie. dance class) and inappropriate places to dance (ie. the grocery store). Obviously I never learned that lesson.

This love of dance lead me to discover Stars Dancing for HEALS, a very awesome event by the local nonprofit HEALS based on the national TV Show, Dancing with the Stars. This year’s event takes place Monday, November 5th at Monaco Pictures and brings some exciting new additions.

The Event

Like on TV, Stars Dancing for HEALS features eight stars from the community who are paired with trained dancers from local dance studios, Rocket City Dance Club and Southern Elegance Dance Studio. On November 5th these eight stars compete for YOUR votes. All ticket purchases, donations and sponsorships count as votes. Plus you can also purchase votes in any amount you’d like.

But instead of winning the coveted mirror ball trophy, these stars are competing to raise money to provide much needed medical and dental care for our community’s children.

“The Stars Dancing for HEALS event is not just the largest fundraiser that we have each year, it’s also a wonderful opportunity to tell the community about HEALS. The medical and dental care that HEALS provides for the most vulnerable children in our community simply would not be possible without the generous support that HEALS receives from the people of Huntsville and Madison County, ” HEALS Executive Director Connie Carnes told me.

And this year, I’ll be there LIVE tweeting! You can follow all the action on Twitter using the hashtag #Dance4HEALS.

Shea Allen and Aaron Greer at Rocket City Dance Club

You and HEALS

This year there are more ways than ever to experience Stars Dancing for HEALS and support HEALS:

Attend the event Monday November 5th at Monaco Pictures
Watch the event LIVE on WAAY TV
Follow my live tweeting from the event using the hashtag #Dance4HEALS
OR a brand new addition this year, you can hold a Tailgate Party the night of the event

Tailgate for HEALS

While Tailgating is usually reserved for the football, this year it is coming to Stars Dancing for HEALS. It’s as a fun, new way for anyone to get that same festive atmosphere you’d experience if you were at Monaco, without actually leaving your house!

So how does it work? Glad you asked! It’s simple:

Location: Pick a place to have your party. It can be anywhere’d like, all you need is a way to tune in to WAAY TV from 6-7 PM and somewhere to sit.
Register: Let HEALS know about your Tailgate Party through the HEALS website or by emailing them. You’ll see why this is VERY important in just a second.
Spread the Word: Invite your friends and family
Vote: Vote for your favorite star by donating to HEALS. You can vote any time before or during the even and remember: every dollar donated is a vote!
Tally Up: Call or text in your total number of votes to HEALS before 7pm on November 5th,(that’s very important!). The top 3 tailgate parties will be announced LIVE at the event on TV.

Kathy Neyman and instructor Hal Reid of Southern Elegance Dance Studio

Important information for Tailgaters:

Phone number to text in your voting total: 256-683-4446
Phone number to call in your voting total: 256-682-1084
Register your tailgate party on the HEALS website or by emailing HEALS

The Stars

This year’s dance off features eight local stars, who will all be competing for your votes! There will be two winners announced the night of the event, Crowd Favorite and Top Champion. But there are truly no losers in this competition, since all the votes are raising money to help children gain access to much needed medical care. Just ask anyone who has participated in the event before, like Cristina Lynn, a star from last year who will be this year’s emcee.

“Participating in the 2011 Stars Dancing for HEALS event taught me to stretch way beyond my comfort zone and reminded me that hard work, having fun & perseverance are keys to success, but mostly it allowed me the opportunity to help an Amazing organization do Amazing things for God’s Amazing gift…… our children. It doesn’t get much better than that!” Cristina told me.

2012 Stars

Shea Allen: Reporter, WAAY 31 News
Kenny Anderson: Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, Calhoun Community College, Decatur Campus
Vinny Boles: Retired Major General, United States Army
Mike DeMaioribus: Senior Vice President, Dynetics, Inc.
Candace Hornsby: Director of Operations, Russ Russell Commercial Real Estate
Kim Lewis: Founder and Owner, PROJECTXYZ, Inc.
Kathy Neyman: Assistant VP/Strategic Leadership Development, Redstone Federal Credit Union
Alex Vasquez: Cardiologist, Huntsville Hospital Heart Center

About HEALS

All the funds raised at this event will benefit HEALS Inc., an amazing nonprofit that works to keep children in Madison County healthy by providing free medical and dental care. The HEALS clinics are actually located in the schools that they serve, which makes providing this critical care to students a seamless process and one that the students are actually able to take advantage of.