$25,000 is a lot of money. This is the amount of money that the Wilmington Friends School B+ team hoped to raise for this year’s Dance-a-Thon. It is an ambitious goal, but with a supportive and generous community, Meera Kohli ’15, head of the B+ committee at WFS, strongly believes that raising this amount of money was possible. She and the other members hope that this year even more people will come to the Dance-a-Thon, so that this goal can be achieved and that people will have fun at the same time!
One of the ways that increased attendance was accomplished was by getting in touch with nearby schools who also have a club for the organization. Kohli and the club have gotten in touch with Tower Hill, Tatnall, and Sanford. This raised the amount of donations given, as well as the attendance to the dance.
Based on feedback from last year’s Dance-a-Thon, there was a surplus of great food, excellent music, raffle tickets, and of course fun competitive games. When everyone arrived at the dance, they were assigned a specific color group and throughout the night games were played within the color group. For example, one of the great activities was human bingo.

All of the members of the club have reasons hey became involved with the organization. Kohli has been aware of the organization from the beginning of the B+ journey when the slogan was “Pray for Andrew”.
Kohli also said that cancer research and finding a cure has always interested her. “I started volunteering at the children’s hospital two summers ago. You wouldn’t believe how much families have to go through to get their kids through cancer treatment. That’s what inspires me now,” Kohli said. Kohli really enjoys seeing the outcome of her work and how it affects people so much.

Another club member, Summer Tyler ’16, talked about what she finds most rewarding. She said, “The most rewarding part of being in B+ is knowing that I am making a difference in so many lives by raising this money. So many families lose a child every day because they can’t pay for medical care, by raising this money for B+ we are saving their lives.” Kohli talks about the rewarding results of B+ when talking about a letter that the club received from a family of a child who survived cancer. The money the school raised went to paying for surgery for a child to remove a brain tumor.

Lena Urick ’17, who attended the Dance-a-Thon both years said, “I thought it was really fun and it got the school more involved in charity work. I also think the hours the committee put in really shined through at the dance.” Remy Davis-Tinnell ’17, a new member of this year’s club talked about her experience, “Everyone was really nice about new people getting involved. The most rewarding part is probably just the feeling that I did something for someone other than myself.”

When asked about the club’s plans for next year, Kohli said that the club has not formed a permanent team yet, but she hopes that Sujeylee Alvarez ’16 will take over, along with help from fellow juniors Brendan Wren, Summer Tyler, and Frances Harper. From now on, the dance will rotate hosts between the four schools. Next year, the dance may be held at Tower Hill, hosted by junior Blair Isken.

This dance could not be possible without all of the students who have contributed to this great cause and to the Friends School student body, which helped with the many suggestions to make the 2015 Dance-a-Thon the best it can be.

Kohli concluded, “Our fundraiser is nothing without the support from the student body, so thank you guys so much for everything.” Remember, the B+ Committee is always looking for new students to join the club and get involved with their mission! Contact Senior Meera Kohli if you are interested in donating money or time.