We did it again, this time bigger and better. We are More Than Dance keeps replaying over and over in my head, especially after this past weekend. I loaded up my car with you all’s donations and made the 4 hour hike to the Life Center to drop them off. When I got to the Life Center, a lot of memories flooded my mind about why MTD even started. The first thing I saw as I was getting out of my car was a little kid with a bright green book bag walking up to the center after school. 

After I dropped off the donations, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the director of the Life Center, Mrs. Georgina Hill. She’s new in the position, but already has huge vision for the kids there. She gave me some back ground about herself and how she started out in London and now lives in Durham, NC. I gave her my story of how MTD was started. 

I could write pages about my visit there, but I’ll keep it short with this one particular story. When I dropped off the donations, yes we had boxes and book bags filled with paper, pencils, pens, folders, etc. But my biggest concern was, is the Life Center going to be able to use this? When I asked this question, Mrs. Hill told me something that happened just earlier in the week. A little kid, just starting school, needed crayons for his homework. When Mrs. Hill asked him where his crayons were, he excitedly said, “I have crayons!” And pulled out a big box of crayons. When he opened the box, he only had two half’s of a crayon. After she told me this, she looked at me as she was going through the donations and said, “Yes, all of these donations will be used.”

More Than Dance donated: 5 Book bags, 15 notebooks, 8 packs of pencils, 3 boxes of crayons, 3 packs of highlighters, 3 packs of pens, 1 calculator, 2 shirts, 9 packs of paper, 2 packs of index cards, 1 ruler, 4 notebooks, 3 folders, 3 packs of markers, 3 erasers, 2 rubber balls, a pack of hair bands, and $155. 

Thank you once again to the choreographers, staff, street team, and everyone who attended and donated to the workshop. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I can’t wait to do it again! Together, We are More Than Dance.