For the third year in a row members of the Zumba family—not just from Durham, but all over the city, St. Mary Catholic Secondary School students and the Durham community at large came together for a great cause this past Wednesday night: raising funds to keep for a variety of programs in Latin America such as helping young girls from falling victim to human trafficking in Cusco, Perú. This is an effort the charitable organization Learning for Hope, managed by St. Mary C.S.S. teacher Andrew McLaughlin along with the Harmony Center’s co-owner and Zumba Fitness instructor, Linda Caruso Raponi are leading for the third year in a row, and is growing, strengthening and undoubtedly becoming the event of the year in Pickering.
Photo Credits: Jonathan Wardle
(Some photos Courtesy of ZumbaLove.ca/Lily Malizia)
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wardle
As of last year, all the proceeds from this important fundraising event are going to their partner organization CAFÉ—Canadian Aid For Education—with whom they merged last year. “We are basically the Youth Wing for the organization,” said McLaughlin. “I think by the time everything gets in, we’ll probably get about $5,000, which is all going to be put into the Canadian Aid For Education. The money will be used for different projects, basically, and be distributed throughout: a lunch program in the Dominican Republic, a mobile library in Arequipa, Perú; there’s a youth leadership training program in Chile and we also have two schools we work with in El Salvador—one for students with special needs and there’s also a rural school. And then we have our centre in Cusco which is for girls who are at risk or girls who actually are human trafficking victims—there’s about 54 girls that are going to the centre right now in Cusco and about 19 of them are rescued from trafficking.”
Merging with CAFÉ was the next logical step for Learning for Hope, says McLaughlin, because not only are they a registered charity (and able to provided tax receipts for donations, which Learning for Hope was unable to do before), but they also share the same philosophy, their Whitby headquarters make it an ideal and nearby location and they wanted to have youth involved as well, “so it was the perfect marriage of the two.” He and several members of his team are now part of CAFÉ’s board of directors, so they all have equal say when it comes to deciding how the funds are distributed. The work with St. Mary students hasn’t been affected or changed in any way with this new partnership—in fact, it’s only expanded to a more international scope (because CAFÉ leads projects in several countries) and gotten better, says McLaughlin.
Photo Courtesy of Facebook.com/ZumbaWithLindaRaponi
Photo Credit: Lily Malizia
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wardle
Linda Raponi, co-organizer of the event, said to be ecstatic of the turnout and the energy of those in attendance. “When I spoke with Andrew McLaughling (3 years ago) and he told me about this event, it really hit home: the empathy and what they were actually doing; a small organization was reaching so many people right to the core, right where it really counts. This is really going to the people who really, really need it, the funds were going directly there. It’s an area that is overlooked and if I can help out in one small little way, I was more than thrilled to do it. And I keep doing it because I saw the direct impact of just one night—not even, it was just a couple of hours of our time. And we’re having fun doing this. It’s such an honour to be able to raise some money—what’s 20 bucks out of my pocket? And for them it’s huge and it has a huge impact.”
“I was just told when I walked in that through the money we raised last year they were able to keep the trafficking centre open in Peru,” said Harmony Zumba instructor Julie Eifert-Thompson, “which helped all those girls to get off the streets and away from trafficking, so it was a huge success. So I think we’re looking for as big or bigger a success this year.”
And to make sure of that Linda enlisted the help of the Harmony Center Zumba team—Julie, Bev Bettens and Melissa Donohue—along with fellow Zumba instructors Miguel Martínez, Zes Nile Said, Heidi, Mylene, Aury and Zin Jammer Edgar, who jumped at the chance to be part of this worthy cause. “It’s the marriage of many instructors across the city,” said Eifert-Thompson. “Everyone is coming in to pitch in and just dance for such a great cause. It’s wonderful to see.”
Photo Courtesy of Facebook.com/ZumbaWithLindaRaponi
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wardle
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wardle
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wardle
It was the second year for Zumba instructor Miguel Martínez participating in the event and he didn’t even hesitate to accept Linda’s invitation when asked again. Originally a dancer and choreographer who toured all across Canada with MuchMusic, he got his certification as a Zumba instructor two years ago, a path that has allowed him to be involved in many worthy causes (breast and prostate cancer, Sick Kids Hospital and other charity events) and now the Zumba for Hope event in Pickering.
Martínez, himself of Salvadoran background, admits he’s always eager to give back—principles his own parents have always fomented in him. Right now, he says, “I’m in a position that I can (give back). Eventually, maybe down the road, I won’t be able to, so as long as I’m alive now, I want to give back as much as I can. If it’s for charity, I’m there. Not even a question, that’s for sure,” he continued. A Brampton resident, this is an hour and 20 minute drive that he enthusiastically makes just to be a part of this great night. “I’d go further,” said Martínez. “The Durham people’s energy is just amazing. I absolutely love it. They’re wonderful people.”
Bev, who has been participating in this event since its inception, was super excited and a little nervous about this one in particular because this time around she comes in as a Zumba instructor herself, since recently obtaining her Zumba instructor certification. This was a bit of a challenge because so far she’s taught groups of 15 to 20 people and on this night she would lead a group of over 200 people. But she didn’t hesitate for one second to take part as well. “The cause is amazing. You can help people in a third world country have some of the wonderful privileges that we are so blessed to have. That is such a gift to give and such a wonderful thing to get involved in. I’m a little nervous but I’m here to help and have fun and I’m really happy to be participating,” said Bettens.
Bev, Linda and the rest of the instructors had the mixed crowd that included high school students, Zumba fitness followers and different members of the community at large (including quite a lot of men, a rare occurrence for dance fundraisers) pumped and energized to the limit for the almost hour and a half that the dancing portion lasted for. “It’s totally uplifting to know that you’re spending an hour or 90 minutes and you’re just having a great time and what that hour means to people in Perú,” said Eifert-Thompson. One night of Zumba exercise kept almost 70 girls in Cusco, Perú, out of human trafficking for a year, said McLaughling at the end of the night.
It is hard to imagine that a couple of hours of our time and a few dollars could have such an impact on a community so far away from Pickering. But for this community, having witnessed the power and influence one night can carry makes it all the more enjoyable and worthwhile. Like my son Alex, who attended the event for the first time, said to me at the end of the night, “This is the best $20 I have ever spent in my life.”
The night closed with raffle prizes being handed out to a few lucky winners. All of the prizes were also donated by the same members of the community who attended that night. To see the community respond so enthusiastically and in such large numbers is something Linda and the rest of the organizers feel very proud of and makes them want to do it again and again for this amazing cause. “They’re getting the message and they understand how important this is,” said Linda, “and they’re seeing the results. It’s nice when you actually can see your dollar and where it went. And where can you have that much fun for two hours? The teenagers, they were having a blast, they came up on stage, they were dancing. It’s a time to just be carefree, who cares? You’re supporting just a fantastic cause and having such a great time doing it.”
