Dancers with Heart and Sole
“Dancers with Heart and Sole”, also known as DwHaS and affectionately pronounced Doohas, is a group of dancers and families within the Sue Hewitt Dance Studio. Our mission: “is to teach our dancers to understand the needs of others and the importance of giving back to the community by using our talents to benefit others. We will do this by having the dancers organize, plan and/or perform in a show to raise money for children in need in Indiana County.”
The weekend of Feburary 5th,6th,7th 2010 was one of the snowiest in 15 years and the coldest of the new year. The Sue Hewitt Dancers with all of their heart and soul proved that the show must go on! Rehearsing under blizzard conditions and rescheduling the show a few times, the dancers along with guest performers put on a fantastic show! Thanks to families, friends and generous donations, DwHaS 2010 raised over $5,000.00 for the Salvation Army.
Looking back over the years:
In March of 2007 the dancer donated over $4,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters, which is now known as Big Hearts Little Hands. Then in July, the dancers donated $471 to Jessica Neal (a SHDS graduate) who was earning her Girl Scout Gold Award project. She used this money to provide outings and activities for members of Big Hearts Little Hands.
In 2008, The Salvation Army was the focus of our energies. We rang bells for The Red Kettle Campaign, donated money toward the Adopt-a-family program and held another variety show. This show earned close to a $5,000 donation. The generosity of the Sheetz Corporation and Reliant Holdings is greatly appreciated as well as the time and effort of the dancers and their families. Members of the IHS Key Club also got involved by running the concession stand.
In 2009, our numbers continued to grow as over 200 dancers were involved either on or offstage. This year we earned over $6,000 for The Salvation Army. The involvement of community members as well as an outstanding basket raffle coordinated by Salvation Army board members proved this year to be our most successful yet.
All in all, it is the dancers as members of “Dancers with Heart and Sole” who are the foundation. Their interest in helping others and donation of their time and talent to do so says a lot for the dancers within the Sue Hewitt Dance Studio. The tagline of DwHaS reads “We use the soles of our feet to dance, and our hearts to give others a chance