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Momentum Dance Project and Imagine Dance Project, our sister studio down the Mississippi River in St. Louis, MO, had a charitable competition called "Diapers From Dancers" to help those devastated by the hurricanes.
After discussing over the phone our concerns and sadness related to the victims in, at the time only Texas, we started to brainstorm ideas on how we could help. With some research we found that relief agencies could not provide diapers to those in need. From here Sydnee Reese, the artistic director and owner of IDP and my amazing friend, came up with the title of our friendly challenge and we called on our students to help in this effort.
The students at MDP and IDP sent each other messages through social media of progress and fun banter to instigate added pressure to "win" this challenge. Students went door to door asking for donations to purchase diapers as well as receiving diapers from friends and families after seeing our call to action on social media.
This effort amounted in 3354 diapers from MDP and 3228 diapers from IDP with a total of 6582 diapers to be donated together! A mission was fueled that went beyond our physical challenge of collection. Every step on the sidewalk and knock on the door was work these students put into a positive and rewarding philanthropic undertaking. The idea that the energy cultivated while pursuing a goal for those in need stretches beyond us all. The impact they may have on someone's day, for a moment in time, that they were thought of by someone they do not know is what made this so special to us. Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with them.
Thank you to all the students, families, friends and anonymous donors that helped to make this possible. We are very grateful.