Hannah's Hope Holds First Annual ZumbaThon

| Print |  E-mail
Written by Collin Czilli   

Hannah’s Hope, a local charity that supports child brain injuries, held their first annual ZumbaThon Friday night at the Portage High School Field House. Over 50 participants showed up to support Hannah’s Hope as five instructors donated their time to instruct the group.

Zumba is a Latin inspired dance-fitness program that incorporates international music from Grammy Award winning artist and invigorating dance steps to burn calories and support healthy lifestyles.

“I have a girlfriend that teaches Zumba in Valpo, and we just thought it would be a great fundraiser [for Hannah’s Hope],” said Megan Witherspoon, the event organizer, “It was something easy to do to raise money for a great cause.”

Mike Martinez and his wife Mary founded Hannah’s Hope after their daughter, Hannah, had a prenatal stroke. Hannah’s Hope supports multiple charities around the country by donating funds in Hannah’s name. This year, donations will be made to First Steps and Children’s Neurobiological Solutions.

“The catchphrase for Hannah’s Hope is Helping Hannah Help Others. What Hannah’s Hope does is we host several events throughout the year to raise money,” Mike Martinez said “Hannah does not keep that money, Hannah donates that money to help people like her.”

People came from all over to participate in the ZumbaThon. Zumba veteran Tom Coe, a region Zumba instructor tries to go to as many events as he can.

“I just heard about it from some other instructors, I am an instructor in the area too,” Coe said “We just go to as many events as we can.”

It wasn’t only veterans that came out to support Hannah’s Hope, first time Zumbaers also attended.

“Me and my friends are really happy that we came out to the ZumbaThon, we are having a lot of fun,” Portage High School Senior Katie Engel said “We are more than happy to support such a great cause in Hannah’s Hope.”

Hannah’s Hope will also be having their annual golf outing at the Brassie Golf Club in Chesterton on July 14, 2012 and will be collecting pop tabs to continue to help Hannah, help others. For more information on where to sign up or donate, email Hannah’s Hope at  info@hannahshope.org.

View photos from the event here.
 

Do you have an article idea, an event notice, or some information to share?

You can email your ideas, suggestions, comments, or event listings to PortageLife.com Health Editor Karin Mick at health@portagelife.com or use the SUBMIT button below.

Events should be received at least seven days prior to the date of the event, ideally as far ahead of time as possible. Include the event title, date, time, address, phone number, and a brief description. Also, please include a contact name, email address, and phone number in case we have any questions or want to write a story about your event.

submit event

Publication of event listings is at the discretion of the PortageLife.com editors. We reserve the right to edit submitted content. No guarantees are made for the validity or accuracy of community-submitted event notices.