Fisher Students Aim to Raise $90,000 at Teddi 37
February 1, 2019
St. John Fisher College students are ready to take the floor for the 2019 Teddi Dance for Love. A 24-hour dance-a-thon that has raised more than $1 million for Camp Good Days and Special Times, the event will be held from 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8 through 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Athletic Center.
This year, the committee hopes to make history and raise $90,000 for the Camp, the most ever raised through the dance-a-thon. Proceeds from the fundraiser support the Teddi Project, which sends a group of children on a week-long trip to amusement parks in Florida.
More than 500 dancers, including students, alumni, faculty, and staff, will tap their toes and clap their hands to nearly 400 songs. Austin Giorgio, a contestant on Season 14 of NBC’s “The Voice” will help kick-off the dance with a performance at 8:30 p.m. The event also features performances from Drastic Measures, Irish Dance Club, and the Ukulele Club.
During the dance, students will participate in a before and after reveal of the hair they will donate to Children With Hair Loss, a nonprofit organization that provides human hair replacements at no cost to children and young adults facing medically-related hair loss.
As is tradition, the Teddi Committee will honor a special camper during the dance-a-thon. This year they will recognize Alissa Cole, who passed away in September 2018 at the age of 26. A longtime member of Camp Good Days, Cole was a camper as a child and became a resident counselor for the Doing a World of Good summer program for several years.
Cole was a Kindergarten inclusion teacher at Theodore Roosevelt School No. 43 in the Rochester City School District at the time of her passing. According to those who knew her, she truly loved each child she taught, and found inspiration in making a positive impact on her young students.
The event is made possible thanks to the help of more than 240 student committee members and volunteers, and 13WHAM sports reporter Jenna Cottrell will serve as the event’s honorary chair.
Cottrell, who joined the 13WHAM sports team in February 2016, covers everything from the Buffalo Bills to high school athletics. But perhaps her most powerful story of victory is her own: just a year after joining the news team, Cottrell was diagnosed with stage 4 nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma. She sought treatment at the Wilmot Cancer Center, receiving chemotherapy every other week for six months. Now cancer-free for more than a year, Cottrell is excited to join the Teddi Dance for Love Committee to raise money for a cause close to her heart.
“I think if you talk to anyone who has had cancer, there is a distinctive before and after in your life. Before cancer, I would have looked at this event thinking it’s a good cause to help out. Now, after cancer, I look at these types of events as crucial because it gives children who have gone through so much the ability to have fun, to be themselves in a world that’s separated from the stress of their usual day-to-day,” Cottrell said during the Very Beary Brunch, which begins the countdown to the dance. “The strength in which these children live their lives is inspiring, and the effort you have put together to make the Teddi Dance what it is, is inspiring. I look forward to next week’s event."
To register for the dance in advance, visit Teddi’s website (teddi.sjfc.edu). A $50 donation is requested for dancers interested in participating for the full 24 hours; the suggested donation for the mini eight-hour marathon, held from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, is $35.
Follow @TeddiDance4Love on Twitter for updates about the event. To donate to the dance, visit the Committee’s First Giving page.