About Us

Mission

We believe we can all shine bright on stage but shining bright in life by helping and lifting others up is where we can all make an everlasting difference. Dancers at Heart is committed to raising funds that benefit the health and wellness of those in need while fostering kindness and support.

Purpose

Dancers at Heart was founded in 2017 and became a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in May 2018. Our board is made up of various industry professionals who carefully select the charities to which we donate. Our funds are always restricted and designated to very specific programs, and we are proud to say that we operate with a zero percent administrative rate. As a “novice” non-profit we proudly have raised $250,000 which has been shared amongst very worthy Charities such as: Boston Children’s Hospital, Make A Wish New Hampshire, 2018 California wild fire victims and dance community families who have suffered the tragic loss of a child.

Our money is raised through various events such as:

Performances: Dream Believe Inspire, Open Your Hearts for Dancers at Heart
Intensives: No Limits Dance Intensive
Trophy Opt-Out: Kaleidoscope Dance Awards
Other Events: Boston Marathon, Reach The Beach, Dancers Dash and other various fund raising efforts.

Inspiration

The idea for Dancers at Heart originated in October 2012 with “Operation Miles to Smiles” providing handmade fleece blankets and other necessities to the people of Breezy Point, NY who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Jr Linden, Sandi Duncan, and Melissa Hoffman were inspired to give back to this community after seeing the devastating impact of the hurricane. They used social media to help network and collaborate with other dance schools in the New England area to coordinate their efforts in collecting items of need. The items were then loaded up and personally delivered to the people of Breezy Point. This was only the beginning.

History

In 2016, Jr Linden was asked to run the Boston Marathon for the Credit Unions Kids at Heart team which raises funds for 4 specific research projects benefiting Boston Children’s Hospital. Through support of local dance schools he was able to raise just over $28,000 in this first year thanks to the support of the dance community. Jr once again ran the Boston marathon in 2017 and was able to raise over $36,000. In the summer of 2017 Dancers at Heart was born. We held our first fundraiser in October 2017 and brought together over 20 area dance studios, 300 dancers and sold out a theater of 700 seats, raising more than $20,000 at this event. With the goal of providing dancers with opportunities to give back to the community, Dancers at Heart become an official recognized Nonprofit in the State of New Hampshire in 2018.

Dancers at Heart is a 501(c)3 tax exempt public charity