Freehold Township High School students have participated in a fundraiser that generated thousands of dollars to benefit the families of children who are dealing with the effects of cancer and other health issues.
The “Dance For The Kids” (Dance FTK) was a four-hour dance-a-thon modeled after the annual Rutgers Dance Marathon. The event raised money for the Embrace Kids Foundation, New Brunswick. The Nov. 14 fundraiser at the high school had a goal of raising $5,000 and ended up collecting $9,010.
Adam Brusotti, the high school’s supervisor of extracurricular activities, said Skylar Feldman, a junior, came up with the idea to hold a fundraiser at the school.
Skylar chaired Dance FTK and said, “In creating this event, I was inspired to help families who suffer through tough circumstances, further magnified by their children’s health issues. Since a young age, doing good deeds and charitable work within my community has been instilled in me.
“This was my opportunity to develop something innovative at my school from the ground up. I wanted to focus my charitable efforts on a goal that was larger than myself and I knew my peers would be eager to rally with me,” the student said.
Skylar said she learned about the event and how to run it from a family friend who serves on the board of the Embrace Kids Foundation and another family friend who chaired the Rutgers Dance Marathon.
She said participants danced, sang and played games. During the event, a video was shown in which families who have been assisted by the Embrace Kids Foundation described how they were helped by events such as the one that was held at Freehold Township High School.
“The words the families spoke allowed us, the dancers, to understand the true meaning of why we were dancing for this common cause,” Skylar said. “Tears ran down the faces of many students as they were educated on the deeper meaning of this charity.”
Summing up what the students accomplished, Brusotti said, “When I found out Dance FTK supported families with children fighting serious illnesses such as cancer, I was on board immediately.
“I firmly believe our high school should do what it can to work with and give back to the community because we are such a prominent part of that community and many residents have ties to the high school, either as alumni or as parents of current and/or future students,” he said.
Skylar received word from the Embrace Kids Foundation that the Freehold Township event was the most successful to date in terms of results. Plans are in the works to hold the event again in 2019.