IRC Healthy Start, Theatre celebrate 10 years of Dancing with Vero’s Stars

VERO BEACH – Dancing with Vero’s Stars has made a mark on the Vero Beach non-profit events scene ever since it first sashayed on to the stage of the Vero Beach Elks Hall on Saturday, March 14, 2009.

At that time, less than 400 people made a full house, and less than $40,000 was raised for the non-profit. The Indian River County Healthy Start Coalition recognized from that singular evening that Dancing with Vero’s Stars would only grow and attain unlimited success as their signature fundraising event.

That it did with three subsequent successful years of shows at The Waxlax Center at St. Edward’s School.

In 2013, a major shift was made to partner with Riverside Theatre as the host venue, and now six years later, Dancing with Vero’s Stars (DWVS) thrives beyond everyone’s expectations with a substantial increase in both attendance and in money raised.

The Indian River County Healthy Start Coalition and Riverside Theatre will be celebrating the sixth year as partners producing and presenting Dancing with Vero’s Stars.

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, DWVS will be held at Riverside Theatre on Saturday, May 12, 2018.

“Our partnership with Riverside Theatre continues to be extremely successful for both of our non-profit organizations.  We are thrilled to be celebrating our ten year mark and plans are now underway for a special celebration for everyone participating and attending the event in May,” said Andrea Berry, CEO of IRC Healthy Start Coalition.

Jon Moses, Riverside Theatre’s Managing Director, agreed. “Having the ability to produce this amazing show for the community continues to be an honor for us.  Our entire staff enjoys creating new ideas for this annual event, allowing us to showcase our local dancing stars with a high quality production.”

The 10th Anniversary event is chaired by former dancing stars and mirror ball trophy winners Karen Franke (General Manager of Treasure & Space Coast Radio) and Lisa Thompson Barnes (Lawyer and Shareholder with Collins, Brown, Barkett, Garavaglia & Lawn).  Along with the co-chairs, and a creative and hard-working committee of 12, the committee meets regularly to plan and execute Vero’s favorite star-studded glitzy event.

As in previous years, ten local stars are matched with professional dance instructors who train together for a minimum of 20 hours over several months and gather community votes by fundraising in advance of the event. Each $1 raised will equate to a vote for the dancer.  All dancers will be judged on 50% money raised to benefit the Healthy Start Coalition and 50% based on their dancing skills. In addition to the ten dancer showcases, the event will also feature a stylish red carpet arrival, an extensive cocktail party and dessert intermission. The official announcement of the 2018 star dancers paired with their professional dance instructors will be made in mid-November following the official Meet & Greet mixer.

Interested in more information? Interested in sponsorship opportunities?  Contact the Indian River County Healthy Start Coalition at 772-563-9118. The mission of the Indian River County Healthy Start Coalition is to offer a broad spectrum of programs to assure every pregnant woman and their young children receive necessary healthcare and support services. The vision is to have the healthiest babies born in the State of Florida and the passion and foundation in everything they do is to help mothers and their infants. Proceeds from this event will benefit Healthy Start Coalition and Riverside Theatre’s programs and services.

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