It’s the season where everyone’s looking to get in shape for the summer, and Westlock’s Hope Resource Centre is looking to help people along.
Everyone’s invited to come out to Georges Whissell Park in Westlock this Saturday for the annual Dance 4 Hope, one of the organization’s main fundraisers for the year.
Participants will take part in some Zumba and Jazzercise in the park, hosted by Melanie Rottier and Kerri Wiegand respectively, after collecting pledges for donations to the centre, which is a resource for family violence prevention and support in the Westlock area.
But if you don’t want to dance, that’s fine too.
“Bring a lawnchair, sit in the park, watch the event, collect pledges, and let your children dance to the music in the park,” HRC director Sylvia Yoder said. “We really want to bring that family component into it.”
The fee is $5 for those who have collected pledges, and $30 for those who would prefer not to collect. All proceeds go to the centre.
Yoder said the importance of the fundraiser and the importance of the organization in this community should not be understated — public support will ultimately translate into greater success in provincial and federal grant applications.
“Their giving is not just giving to the community and supporting their community members, it’s also legitimizing us to the government and showing that this community is behind the service,” she said.
The Dance 4 Hope event has run in the past as part of Wacky Saturday — a festival that has been cancelled for this year — but Yoder said she’s confident there will be more than enough community support.
The final song on the dance playlist will be Break the Chains, a song written as part of the One Billion Rising for Justice campaign. The one billion refers to the number of women worldwide who will experience abuse or be raped in their lifetime.
Yoder said the Dance 4 Hope event, and the One Billion Rising campaign, will be getting a high-profile boost from local MLA Maureen Kubinec this year.
Registration begins at 10:30 a.m., and the dancing will begin at 11. For more info, contact the Hope Resource Centre at 780-349-6111.
