Yelm Jazzline is currently hosting its annual fundraiser, and this year, the dance team is planning to travel to the National Dance Championships in Orlando for the first time in the team’s 72-year history.
“This is our only big fundraiser and is super important to the funding of our program,” Jazzline head coach Cherylee Rolfe said. “In addition to the fundraiser helping offset team costs such as uniforms and competition fees, we are trying to raise enough money to travel to the National Dance Championships.”
The SnapRaise fundraiser campaign is hoping to earn $12,000 and is currently at $5,000 as of earlier this week. Rolfe said it would cost about $40,000 to travel to nationals with flight, hotels and goods.
“We only have a couple of other small fundraisers, including a junior clinic, where younger kids come to the school to learn a dance and perform it with the team,” Rolfe said. “We will also sell discount cards in the spring. Neither of these fundraisers will come close to raising the amount of money the SnapRaise does.”
Each Jazzline student is fundraising to help offset the team costs, while 20% of the overall money will go to the team as a whole.
“Students involved in Jazzline get so many benefits — a safe place to feel welcomed and accomplished,” Rolfe said. “They have to maintain good grades and attendance. They learn discipline, health and fitness. They make friends they may not have had. The list is endless.”
Rolfe added that the Yelm community has been phenomenal.
“We are always invited and included in school and community events,” Rolfe said. “Sometimes, the dance team is overlooked as a sport, but not in Yelm.
People seem to understand how hard these kids work and push themselves to be better every day.”
Help is needed from the community as the team can only make nationals with the money from fundraising. She said it can also be used as a tax write-off for businesses willing to help.
To donate, visit https://raise.snap.app/donors/yelm-jazzline-2023.
