The inaugural event of the Rotary Club of Arlington’s new signature charity event, “Dancing with the Arlington Stars!” was held on Monday, May 6th at Texas Live! to a sold out house. Over 500 sponsors and supporters were treated to performances of ten celebrity dancers and their partners. The “Celebrity Dancers” had practiced for the last couple of months under the watchful eye of the Dancing with the Arlington Stars! artistic partner, Angie Meister, owner of United Performing Arts Company, and her team of choreographers. It is important to note that Angie, a member of the Rotary Club of Arlington, is the great-granddaughter of the Rotary Club of Arlington’s first President from over 101 years ago, Sam Wine.
Inaugural year celebrity dancers for “Dancing with the Arlington Stars!” were Georgie Zang, Mayor Jeff Williams, Noelle Slater, State Representative David Cook, Cara Hackley, Kenyon Godwin, Valerie Landry, Mayor Jim Ross, Bethany Tinderholt, and Derrick Kinney.
The dancing duos each danced to different dance styles choreographed to matching music. Each dancer represented an Arlington charity with a portion of their donations raised going back to their chosen charities. Over 16 charities in Arlington will benefit from the fundraising event including the Rotary Club of Arlington’s adopted title one school Webb Elementary, Arlington Life Shelter, Mission Arlington, Taste Project, The Salvation Army, Hagar’s Heart, Open Arms Medical Clinic, Arlington Charities, Arlington Urban Ministries, United Way, National Medal of Honor Museum, Arlington Police Foundation, United Performing Arts Guild and other charities to be named later.
It is noteworthy that the event planning only began in late January 2024. Our vision for this event is to be an ongoing charity event benefiting many charities in Arlington for many years to come. Plans are already underway for the second annual “Dancing with the Arlington Stars!” to be held in early 2025.
“It is our pleasure to announce the inaugural “Dancing with the Arlington Stars!” charity fundraiser had a significant net profit of over $306,000. We thank all participants, sponsors, and attendees who helped build a solid foundation for this to become what we envision will be one of the most successful charity fundraisers for Arlington for many years to come,” Joy and Chad Bates, founding event co-chairs announced. “The way this event has been structured, a commitment for a minimum participation portion of the amount raised by each celebrity dancer will go to the charity they represented. We also have formed a very experienced group of Rotarian leaders that have formed a grant subcommittee of the Club’s Fund Development Committee who will recommend to the Club Board of Directors the amount each charity will receive. This committee has six past Club presidents, event chairs, treasurers of the Rotary Club of Arlington and Rotary Club of Arlington’s Foundation and other Rotarians on it. Our initial totals have been voted on by the Club’s Board and will be presented soon to the charities. The grant committee recommendations were far greater than the amount originally committed to be donated to charities represented. In addition, a portion of the net profits from the event will ultimately be donated in the form of additional grants to other charities in Arlington. A policy and grant application process is being established with the goal that as many as 16 charities in Arlington will benefit each year. This process will also be managed by the grant subcommittee with approval by the Rotary Club of Arlington Board in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Arlington Foundation. It is anticipated these additional grants will begin taking applications in July 2024 and awarded in the fall of 2024. 100% of the net profits from the event will go to charities in Arlington,” the Bateses said.
The inaugural event “Best Dancer” is Derrick Kinney, himself being a past President of the Club. By design, the “Best Dancer” is the dancer that raises the most money for charities. The structure of the event means every celebrity dancer and all event committee members who participate can take pride in knowing they are raising money for all of the represented charities in Arlington and more.
Chad Bates, Director – Fund Development,
Rotary Club of Arlington
