Gemma Criste is a Mother of Divine Grace high school student with a passion for dancing and a love for the unborn. This year, Gemma participated in a dance-a-thon fundraiser by dancing for 12 hours to help raise money for a local pregnancy center. Gemma and her partner Anthony Parente, with the help of 17 other couples, raised over $13,000. There was lots of music, dancing, and smiles to be had at the all-day event.

–That was a long day of dancing! What were some challenges you faced?
Soreness was probably the biggest challenge. But they had ‘challenges’ (games) during the dance-a-thon, whoever won the game would get a prize. Some of these contests were the swing dance competition, best dressed, and being blindfolded while dancing!

–How did raising the money work? Did you have sponsors?
The dancers were asked to get at least three sponsors, although most couples get more. We asked sponsors to either give a set amount or pay by the hour. We can dance for up to twelve hours. After the dance-a-thon we reached out to our sponsors and let them know how many hours we danced and where to send the money. Yes, my partner and I asked around and sent emails about people sponsoring us and they were very generous with what they donated.

-How did you know that you wanted to participate in the dance-a-thon?
Friends of ours told my brother and I about it and when we heard we knew that we’d love to participate in it. I love swing dancing and babies and moms are awesome! It seemed like the best way to fundraise, having fun and helping babies and their moms at the same time!

-Please tell me a little about the pregnancy center. Why did the organizers of the dance-a-thon choose this charity?
The pregnancy center helps moms and babies, giving them whatever they need from baby blankets to ultrasounds, food and clothing.
Some churches do walk for life – where you get sponsors and you walk a few blocks for the babies. But the walk is about 30 minutes long. Why not give the dancers a challenge by doing a dance-a-thon? It gets the dancers and sponsors motivated and excited about helping a Pregnancy Center.

–What encouragement can you give others who would like to participate in something like this?
I would encourage anyone who is interested to go for it! The moms and babies need all the help they can get! Every person counts, no matter how big or small – it makes a difference.