Dance team raises money for teenagers in need

By Bethany Hughes
Times Managing Editor
Published: Sunday, September 20, 2009 3:11 AM CDT

As the Papillion-La Vista South dance team raises money for its program, the girls are raising the bar in giving as well.

This year, the team — the Sapphires — decided to donate 25 percent of its raised funds to Youth Emergency Services, a shelter for teens in Omaha.

“It feels good to give back to the community,” said senior and the team captain, Megan Wegenhoft, 17.

The girls’ only goal is to raise as much as they possibly can, Wegenhoft said. In addition to giving a quarter of their funds to YES, they also need to fund their trip to nationals this year.

The girls decided to donate money to YES because they could relate to the teenagers the program helps, said Kylie Adolf, 16, a junior on the team. Adolf’s mom, Vicki, was instrumental in putting the idea in the girls’ heads.

Much of the fundraising this year is traditional — spirit wear, T-shirts, a dance clinic on Oct. 9, and even a Nebraska Huskers football tickets raffle.

On Aug. 28, the team also performed at YES’s Dance for a Chance, a Dancing With the Stars-like fundraiser held at the DC Centre in west Omaha. The event raised $18,000, according to the program’s Web site.

“(Giving) makes us feel more fortunate,” Adolf said.

Wegenhoft agreed.

“(It) makes us realize how much we have,” she added.