Dancers cut a rug and raise $40K for charitable cause

Our community has found a lot of different ways to raise money while having fun.

Whether its local women dressed up and strutting their vintage clothing down a runway, a cast of generous bravehearts in costumes dashing into nearly frozen lakes, singing contests, home tours or pub crawls, our local people know how to put the fun in fundraisers.

The latest example is Dancing with the Show Me Stars, which raised nearly $40,000 for the Community Caring Council.

Thirteen local "stars" and four performers from ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" displayed their dance moves, rhythm and class at the Drury Plaza Conference Center on July 30.

Calvin Garner, Community Caring Council housing coordinator, told reporter Joshua Hartwig about the importance of the event.

"There's a lot of awareness of the issue that we have with homelessness in our community, and it's a very serious issue," he said. "The numbers are always rising every single year. ... This is a huge platform, and an opportunity for our community."

Melissa Stickel, executive director of Community Caring Council, said last year the Community Caring Council lost a couple of housing grants, so the money raised will go toward recouping that amount, according to Hartwig's story.

"That was really a sad day, because we have such a high need for housing assistance. The money raised will allow us be able to say 'yes' more than we have to say 'no.'"

The organization sees roughly 2,000 people in a three-month period coming through the door needing housing assistance, utility assistance, or "some crisis in their life that brings them to our office."

But the event did much more than just raise money for the CCC. It also brought smiles to faces and gave participants something new to try.

"It was a 'bucket list' thing. I thought it would be fun," said Jackson Schools spokeswoman Merideth Pobst, who danced with her husband Justin at the event. "We're more of 'the electric slide at a wedding reception kind of people,' so this has been a little bit out of our comfort zone."

The event sold out; 400 attended.

It was a fun event and for a good cause. We add our applause to all the participants and to the organizers of the event. Well done, you dancers.