Building Strong Survivors Zumba for the Cure!

On September 21st I attended 'Zumba for the Cure,' a Zumbathon fundraiser for Building Strong Survivors, a non-profit organization established in 2011 dedicated to spreading cancer awareness throughout the Capital Region. Partnering with Gold's Gym in Guilderland, News Channel 13, and 99.5 the River the event took place at the College of Saint Rose Gymnasium in Albany.

I was there in support of my Mama, who was Zumbathoning (is that even a word? haha) with my Aunt Debbie (my dad's sister and my Mom's Zumba partner in crime) and one of my best friends, Jenny, a fantastic Zumba master who was leading a portion of the 'thon as well.

My mother had originally asked me to do face painting, which I learned in a workshop as a kid. I used to face paint at the New York State Police 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day' (where my mom worked) and also events at my church as a teenager. More recently I revived the practice at such events as the Voorheesville Memorial Day Parade, on behalf of the Jim Nichols Memorial Foundation, a scholarship foundation in memory of my dear friends' late father/husband. The last two parades I was stoked to see people leaving donations for the free adornment of fireworks and stars and stripes on their kids' faces.

So when I went to stock up on paint for the Zumbathon, I was simply going to go with the tried and true multicolor pack I usually bought. But something caught my eye on my way to get it. Since it's close to October (which mean's Halloween) they had grouped all the face paints and such in one aisle standing display. And on one side was regular paint, where on the other was GLITTER. Glitter paint, glitter glitter, and glitter tattoos! I was captivated by all the different options. (Anyone who has met me for more than 10 minutes usually learns that I have possibly the strongest love on the earth for glitter or anything shiny.)

But was it appropriate? Would people want glitter tattoos? What IS a glitter tattoo? As I stood examining the kit and considering whether it would be equally a) difficult b) messy c) expensive, a woman working at Michael's tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I had any coupons for my shopping trip. I said no, and landed myself a sweet discount coupon, which eliminated factor c).  (Thanks mystery Michael's lady!) The directions on the back made a) seem comparable and in the end, factor b) seemed silly because in my eyes glitter NEVER leaves a mess... it just makes everything sparkle! SO, low and behold: I was sold!

I would have Zumba'd myself but I had shoulder surgery two weeks earlier so I wasn't cleared for any hardcore jamming yet. So instead I was putting free pink glitter tattoos on participants in the Zumbathon (pink and purple hearts and ribbons mainly). They had set up a donation bucket next to my glitter station, and I was again thrilled to see folks dropping extra money into the bucket on top of their registration fees.

All participants rocked it out and had a great time, and in the end they had raised around $2,000.00 at the event. Portions of proceeds go to different organizations including The Children's Hospital at Albany Medical Center, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and Bravehearts.

Check out the Building Strong Survivors recap of the event and page.
 
All in all it was a great event that was close to my heart for multiple reasons. Even though I wasn't breaking a sweat with everyone I was happy to be there to bling people out for a fantastic cause!  :)