BIKE - 4 - DANCE!!! (and RTF!)

Michelle Cournoyer is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

BIKE-4-DANCE!!! (20% to RTF!)

We'll keep this active until August 9th!! (I will "close" it on the 10th at end of day). (This will give time if anyone's interested in viewing the video which Elise finally finished! See UPDATES 7/30 & 8/5) :D

I am on the board of The Richard Tom Foundation (www.richardtomfoundation.com) - and my 11 year-old daughter Elise is a dancer. How do they connect?! Well...I am embarking on the "100/200" bike ride on July 26th - in 9 days! This is riding 200 miles on (mostly) Route 100 in VT, from the Canadian Border to Massachusetts border in a day. I've done this 9 times in my life, the last being in 2012, when I turned 40. A dear friend of many of ours in the biking community, Richard Tom, has been on the ride with me several times over the years, including my very first time in 1995 (pic below!). This is the first time I do it after Richard's passing (in 2015), so I'd like to honor him through supporting RTF in my fundraising, as we weren't able to run our annual "Richard's Ride" this past May - and he'll no doubt be with us in spirit... Now to BIKE-4-DANCE!! Since Elise thinks I should do it a 10th time, I figure there's NO better year than THIS one to do it, now that I have a bit of extra time working from home to train and prep. AND... being motivated by Elise and her endeavors, I am riding for a PURPOSE which I hope you will support. In keeping it local, I will be riding 200 miles to support Arabesque Etc. Dance Studio in Richmond, VT: www.arabesqueetc.com. Arabesque has been a solid part of Elise's life (and soooo many kids'!) since she was in kindergarten and is on year #6 of dancing now! Arabesque Etc has been hit HARD with Covid-19. The studio needs all the support it can get to move forward and rise above this - and it will - yet it will do so even sooner and more successfully with additional funding and support from ... US! Thus - 80% of funds raised will support Arabesque, and 20% will support RTF in honor of Richard and the foundation's programs (newest is "BFF" Bikes For Free - getting bikes in the hands of more kids!). Why sponsor my ride and support RTF and Arabesque? Well RTF is clear, as so many of us loved Richard and know RTF. Arabesque? Arabesque serves about 120 area dancers ages 4-18 every year and is an integral part of so many dancers' and families' lives and is like a second home to so many. I hope you enjoy the collage of photos below to represent all of this!

The need for the studio's support is tri-fold:

1) Arabesque keeps class cost relatively low which is possible through the ticket sales from 2 large shows a year, the largest source of income for the studio. Due to Covid-19, the spring show this year was a "no ticket" show, and a big financial loss. (Martina, the Director and staff impressively pulled this off with an awesome outdoor show at the town park over the course of 5 days! See pics below). After months of online dance lessons, Arabesque kept the dancers dancing and gave them the opportunity to safely hold on to the "Deep In the Jungle" show regardless of a pandemic - it was beautiful show!!!
2) Summer camps enrollment is significantly down, further cutting financing for the studio.
3) Looking ahead to the fall and school year, with some creative scheduling, classes will be held both at the studio and in rented space, enabling to serve all dancers, while operating in compliance with covid-safety regulations. Martina the Director is actively pursuing grants to assist with funding, yet with operating classes in the fall will require additional expenses. Also, long-term, the studio has been seeking a new larger space and has some ideas about building a new "warehouse" studio space eventually-- and funding is key. Until then, Arabesque will continue to be creative in providing safe classes to all dancers.

With this said, I didn't have to look very far to find who to support in my ride!! Donations of any size will make a difference and all add up...whether we raise $500 or $10,000 or even more! Every dollar will be well invested with Arabesque and RTF. Let's see how far we can get with this - let's get more free bikes in the hands of kids and heck--maybe we'll raise enough for a long dreamed of new studio for this town and this small but mighty amazing group of dancers and instructors of Arabesque Etc !! LET'S DO THIS!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!

(NOTE: I'll be riding with my dear friends Aimee Motta and Joe Perella. My husband Dennis, father Bob and dancer Elise will be supporting the ride!)