Allstar Dance Studio Supporting Naples Nonprofits

Date Posted: November 29, 2019
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Allstar Dance Studio Supporting Naples Nonprofits


There is a new dance studio in town and they are making a name for themselves with the local nonprofits. As a way to introduce themselves and give back to the community they now call home, the talented instructors and staff at the Allstar Dance Studio Naples are connecting with local charities to orchestrate fundraisers and community outreach events. In fact, this Sunday December 1st at 6pm, the Dreamscape Foundation will be teaming up with them to put on a Holiday Dance Party event! So let’s meet our co-hosts…

Dance, Dance, and more Dance

The Allstar Dance Studio in Naples views the art of dancing not just as a hobby, but as a way of life. Their friendly and knowledgeable instructors are experts in over a dozen styles of dancing. Offering both group and private lessons they have classes that fit every occasion. I had the chance to speak with one instructor, Jesse Gomez, who has been dancing nearly his entire life. Jesse explained how he came from a family of dancers. They were constantly dancing and playing music at parties and while they weren’t all professionals, it didn’t matter. Dancing was something they all loved and could share with one another. So for Jesse dancing is a true passion not just a career. So much so in fact, to this day he cannot decide on which style is his favorite. His reasoning, “I love something different about each form”. This simple statement is a perfect explanation of how each form may differ but they all have their own unique beauty and elegance.

So you may be asking, what forms of dance do they teach? However, it might be easier to ask what forms they don’t teach! In total, the Studio offers lessons in 14 different styles of dance! Please see below for the complete list and description of each style:

  • Bachata
    • Known for being the most sensual dance in the world. The movements will force you to fall in love with your partner!
  • West Coast Swing
    • A smooth style that is danced in a slot. The dance allows room for syncopated footwork and improvisation. It can be danced to a wide range of music including Rhythm and Blues, Country Western, Funk, Disco, Rock and Pop.
  • Viennese Waltz
    • Characterized by its speed (faster than Waltz), as well as its rise, fall and sway (less than Waltz). With its elegance and turns, Viennese Waltz has an air of magic about it.
  • Samba
    • The national dance of Brazil, which is meant to be danced solo in celebration or pride. However, in the US it has evolved into a couple’s dance performed in most ballroom settings.
  • Merengue
    • Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic. Musically, it has links with Cuba but the dance belongs to the island of Hispaniola.
  • Mambo
    • Known for being a fast and spicy dance characterized by strong Cuban motion, staccato movement and expression of rhythm through the body.
  • Cha Cha
    • Originated in Cuba and evolved from a slow version of Mambo called “Triple Mambo”.
  • East Coast Swing
    • An energetic, fast dance, usually done with triple steps and rock steps to Big Band or contemporary music that ‘swings’.
  • Hustle
    • This rapid, high energy swing dance can be coupled with any upbeat, fast-paced music from any genre or era.
  • Tango
    • Born in the slums of Buenos Aires in the late 19th century from a mixture of different cultural rhythms and steps, it is known for being a highly passionate dance.
  • Rumba
    • Best characterized as a sensual dance that is to be accompanied by romantic music.
  • Foxtrot
    • This smooth and elegant dance has become a very popular Ballroom dance with beginners and advanced dancers alike.
  • Salsa
    • Known best for being a truly great club dance, one that is fun, accessible, sexy, and constantly evolving with each new generation.
  • Waltz
    • This is the granddaddy of all ballroom dances, and set the standard for various forms to follow.

These various styles of dance range from slow to fast and everything in between. Classes are available regularly and multiple class options are offered. These options include Private Classes, Group Classes, and Wedding Dance Lessons. Whether you are a beginner or advanced dancer, the expert instructors at the Allstar Dance Studio will help you learn, improve, and perfect your favorite dances.

Making a grand entrance

Being the new kid in town is never easy. Making introductions and trying to show people who you are can be even more difficult. That is why the Allstar Dance Studio decided to take a different approach when opening up in Naples, FL. They put the community first and contacted the Dreamscape Foundation, as well as a number of other local nonprofits looking to help. They offered to host an event for each to help raise funds or provide a fun night of entertainment to the people they serve. The Allstar Dance Studio team believes highly in helping those in need and being active members of the community and we are proud to welcome them!

Holiday Dance Party Details

Open to all and sure to be a night you won’t want to miss, the Dreamscape Foundation and Allstar Dance Studio will be hosting a Holiday Dance and Pizza Party event! This Sunday December 1st, the festivities begin at 6pm opening up with a group dance lesson. Following the lesson, a wild and crazy all out dance party will take place! The only reason you’ll want to get off the dance floor is to grab a slice or a cold drink before you get back to it. The party will be held at the Allstar Dance Studio located at 4910 Tamiami Trail North Suite 118, Naples, Florida 34103. The entry fee is $5/person or for groups of 3+, just bring one unwrapped children’s toy or gift to support kids in need this Holiday Season.

For any questions or additional details, please email Nick Sibilia at nsibilia@dreamscapefoundation.org or visit our Facebook Event page. To find out more about the Allstar Dance Studio, please visit their website or Facebook Page for class details and schedules. We hope to see you all there to enjoy in the fun and help us in Sharing the Dream!

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24-Hours of Splucy: Dreamscape’s Next Charity Stream

Date Posted: November 29, 2019
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24-Hours of Splucy: Dreamscape’s Next Charity Stream

Dreamscape Foundation is proud to announce its next upcoming Charity Stream event! Partnering up with us this time around is Twitch Streamer Splucy (AKA Lucy), who will be putting on an incredible 24-hour stream! Complete with prizes and fun incentives, Lucy is ready to not only support those in need, but to do something extra for her community and put on a stream they’ll love. Now before we dive into the event details, let’s take a minute to find out where the Splucy channel began.

How Lucy became Splucy

Lucy began her streaming career on Youtube not knowing much, if anything, about what she was doing. After a while, she saw a longtime friend post about Twitch and decided to check it out. After asking her friend about it, he encouraged her to try it and helped answer all her questions. So, she jumped right into it, not know what to expect and the Splucy Twitch Channel was born.  Fast forward 8 short months later, Lucy’s channel is booming! So much so, it led her to making the decision of her life. Lucy recently decided to leave her day job to follow her heart and passion and on November 1st became a fulltime Twitch Streamer!

Now as a fulltime Streamer, Lucy is looking to kick things up a notch and take her production to the next level. With an active and constantly growing community, she is always changing things up, doing new and exciting streams. For example, being from beautiful Australia, Lucy recently put on a mobile beach day stream with her pup Balto. Whether she is gaming or Just Chatting, Lucy loves interacting with her community and making it a place people feel at home. To her, the social aspect that you can mix with gaming is what makes streaming worth it.

Another chance to give back to those in need

While fulltime streaming may be new to Lucy, fundraising and volunteering are anything but. In the past, she has worked with a few organizations to help any way she could. From preparing meals for and playing games/socializing with the elderly to event planning, social media management and photography for a local parish, she has done it all. When asked why she does it, her response was simple, “it’s just a good feeling”. To elaborate, knowing that her actions can help and make a difference to someone in need is reward enough. But her volunteer efforts don’t end there! Last June, she brought her fundraising to Twitch for the first time to raise money for the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Now, Lucy is ready to do it again! This time for the Dreamscape Foundation’s Holiday Giving Campaigns, supporting families and children in need throughout the holiday season. Beginning on Saturday November 30th at 7am EST (8pm AWST), Splucy will be kicking off the 24-hour Charity Stream event! Regardless of what you typically watch on stream, she has a variety of things planned that you’re sure to love. Bouncing back and forth between gaming and Just Chatting, Splucy will be playing an assortment of games ranging from chill and easy going to ones that will have you (and/or her) jumping out of your seat in terror and excitement. Additionally, she won’t be going through it all alone. Throughout the 24 hours Splucy will be joined by other streamers she knows for some group chats and discussions. With a whole lot more planned, it should be an event everyone can enjoy. But what would a Dreamscape Charity Stream be without some amazing gifts and prizes for you to win! All donations will be rewarded with thank you gifts including Dreamscape T-shirts, Steam Keys, Overwatch Sticker sets and Overwatch Heroes Fleece Blankets. But wait… There’s more! Each donation tier also includes entries into our 2 raffle drawings. With the smaller prize being a $50 Amazon gift card and the grand prize of a $100 Amazon gift card!

 

The Holiday/Giving Season has officially begun and we hope you all will tune in this Saturday November 30th to get things started right! We encourage everyone to join and Lucy is especially excited to share this event with her community and all new comers! Regardless of your ability to donate, anyone is welcome and there will be something for everyone to enjoy! To keep up with Lucy and the event, you can follow Splucy’s Twitch Channel, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. To donate, please click and follow our Tiltify Page.

We hope to see you all there to join us in Sharing the Dream!

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Dreamscape Foundation: A Charity for the Disabled & Our Community

Date Posted: September 16, 2019
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Dreamscape Foundation: A Charity for the Disabled & Our Community

Founded in 2013, The Dreamscape foundation was created when the founder, Joseph Sehwani was diagnosed with a rare disease at the age of sixteen that took away his vision. Since then, Joseph has created a vision of his own for people suffering from rare diseases. Providing individuals with scholarships, job aids, education accommodations, health aids and all amenities to help them succeed in life. This foundation focuses on supporting their future to provide equality.

Accessibility First

We know that living with a disability can negatively impact one’s chances of success in education and employment, but at Dreamscape Foundation, we believe that we have the power to do something to address this. While nothing can prepare us for an unanticipated disability, Dreamscape Foundation offers hope. Our non-profit provides accommodations for individuals with disabilities in their pursuit of education and life-fulfilling work.

Our mission is to aid the small population of people affected by sensory impairments to help them achieve success and to fund a cure. We encourage the community to embrace the use of accessible technology to ensure independence. In the past, Dreamscape Foundation had partnered with IT consulting company Intone Networks and accessibility software company User1st to build out our accessibility platform. The program is unique in that we are not aware of any other non-profit organizations who are committed to holding accessibility to such a high standard and provide similar services.

Dreamscape Foundation’s Mission

The commitment of Dreamscape comes from Joe Sehwani’s struggles and difficulties after he lost his vision in high school at sixteen. It is a privilege to work with a charity that works hard to ensure others struggling with similar disabilities are well taken care of and know that they are not alone.The prevalence of visual disabilities also stands to show the need for support for those who are blind or living with low vision. Across the world, 285 million people live with some type of visual impairment, with 39 million living with blindness and 246 million with low vision. In the United States, those with a visual disability account for about 2.2% of the total population.

Without accessibility, we do a disservice not just to the quality of life for those living with a disability – we also prevent them living to their fullest potential. Our charity can better justify program expenses that involve accessibility. This is illustrated clearly when we look at the number of working-age persons with disabilities in the United States who are employed. Right now, that number is only 35% – Dreamscape believes that with accessibility, that number can be much higher.

Helping our Community

Dreamscape partners with many other charities on both a local and national scale with many different missions. We support local charities by partnering with them on fundraisers, campaigns and events as well as support them with various product donations. At Dreamscape, we’re committed to addressing these issues and advocating for the changes needed to help those living with disabilities. Although living with a disability can be a struggle, we are here to assist and support.

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Good360: The Charity That Never Stops Giving

Date Posted: August 27, 2019
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Good360: The Charity That Never Stops Giving

Running a nonprofit and struggling? Maybe Good360 is exactly what you need! Take a deeper look to get the full effect of what this nonprofit is doing for the community around you.

The Mission

Good360 is a product philanthropy, partner based nonprofit organization. This means they work with large and responsible companies to donate their excess merchandise to charities or other nonprofits. They then partner with the charities and nonprofits to help them receive goods for their specific needs. Their mission is to help people, whether it be individuals, families, or a community, who are impacted by disasters or other challenging life circumstances. By providing nonprofits with the goods they need, they can free up their resources to spend on more important aspects of their organization including programs and events.

Good360 views the products as more than just stuff, to them it could be providing a bed to a child for a much-needed good night’s rest. Or even something as little as a pair of soccer cleats to help someone pursue their passion confidently. They have a 35-year track record and have distributed more than $9 billion worth of products. Currently their organization has 400+ corporate donors and 800,000+ nonprofit members. By doing this they are able to give old products new life and reducing waste by keeping it all out of landfills.

The hard workers of Good360 take pride in not only the product donations, but in their help with disaster recovery. In the first few days of a disaster they will be there for people who have been displaced from their homes. They could supply them with products including toiletries, socks, diapers for babies, toys, games, and snacks for kids. When it comes to clean up, Good360 will partner with other organizations to help provide various cleaning supplies to help with things such as the debris and mold. After the cleaning is complete, they will then work on getting donations of the reconstruction materials needed. These materials could be something as small as paint or as large as kitchen appliances. This is extremely important to them because it’s helping people get their homes and lives back. The best part about their disaster recovery is that even years after the impact, they will still be there to help people with things like mattresses, furniture and other home goods.

But wait, there’s more!

This organization even has a blog to discuss all of the wonderful nonprofits and donors they work with. A lot of their blogs will include information on how the programs have given back to the community.  Their articles talk about a variety of different things. Some of them will have information on current or previous disaster relief and even articles about how they have helped women dress for success! You might even get a little emotional when reading their impact stories and true testimonies from the numerous lives they have helped and transformed. Not only do they have a great amount of pride and value in themselves but also in their partnerships. They are constantly talking highly of all the people they work with and this shows even when only reading one of their articles.

Dreamscape has recently had the pleasure of starting a partnership with Good360. We started in mid-July of this year, and we have been more than impressed. They have made it easy on us start to finish. The employees listened to what we needed and walked us through to make sure everything smooth and accordingly. We have had the pleasure of starting with two donors and they have yet to disappoint. This program has been a tremendous asset to our organization. We are supplied the goods and products that we need and give back to the community what we don’t. This program has also been extremely beneficial for us to partner with other nonprofits in our community. Anything that we don’t need or can’t use, we reach out to other local charities to see if we can donate to them. This is such a great asset for everyone because it helps us with creating relationships with other local nonprofits and it helps them get a donation of things, they need but don’t typically get. Aside from the products that Good360 has helped provide us, this has helped us with saving resources to use on other important things within our charity. For example, being able to receive the donated products this has made us be able to save and use our finances towards other things such as the prizes we give away during a fundraiser event.

Now, I know you’re probably thinking that this is a scam because there can’t possibly be a nonprofit organization out there that does all of this. But, I’m here to tell you that this is not a scam and it is true. When we first heard about Good360 and all of the great things they do we were a little skeptical at first, but we cast our worries aside and gave them a try and now we are more than pleased with the outstanding partnerships we have developed.

The best part is whether you’re looking to receive products as a nonprofit, a person who is struggling, or a business who wants to donate their surplus of goods, Good360 has a valuable place for you.

 

 

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Friends of Foster Children Forever

Date Posted: August 2, 2019
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Friends of Foster Children Forever

Have you ever wondered how foster children and families receive help and support? Well, we had the pleasure of speaking with Ann Hughes, the Executive Director of Friends of Foster Children Forever (FFCF), to learn what it truly is all about.

The mission behind it all

The Friends of Foster Children Forever is a local non-profit organization in the Southwest Florida area. They strive to help children all across the area to succeed in life. The organization provides a variety of tools and programs, from supplies to summer camps, but their largest is the Academic Mentoring Program. This is extremely important to them because being prepared academically, will set a child on the right course to success. This mentor program helps the children get excited for school and makes them hopeful for their futures. Aside from the mentorships, they provide after-school programs such as dance, and various sports. They also provide professional tutoring for children who are having a hard time in school or with certain subjects. These tutors will continuously work with them regardless of switching from home to home or school to school.

Behind the scenes

There are a lot of great things provided, but what does it take for this organization to successfully help? Well, the community around them of course! Aside from the wonderful employees, the volunteers are a huge asset. From mentors to running summer camps, FFCF is always looking for help from their local community. On top of providing your time, all donations are welcome and extremely helpful as well. The donations help pay for the professional academic tutors, field trips for the kids, and supplies needed to help.  In addition to donations, they hold fundraisers including this years back to school drive, being their most successful one yet! This year, more nonprofits and groups participated than ever before. They were able to distribute 150 backpacks, with 500 still left to give. On top of the backpacks they were able to provide uniforms for children whose school does not supply them. The organization is always prepared by providing an emergency backpack for the children who are taken from a home in an emergency or short notice. These emergency backpacks include, clothes, pajamas, blankets, tooth brush/tooth paste, and a stuffed animal or toy.

Upcoming events

Including everything they provide, the FFCF also encourages field trips for the children. They have different trips based on age groups. For the elementary school kids they will take them to Legoland, and for the high school kids they will take them to Busch Gardens. These field trips allow the children to have an outlet by  spending time focused on fun and excitement rather than the stress they undergo on a daily basis. Also, during Christmas time, the organization does a gift giving. What this entails is, they will pair the children up with a volunteer and they go to pick out gifts for their family from Walmart. Then later in the year, for the caregivers/guardians they will take them to pick out toys and gifts based on what their child likes.  During the holidays they provide wrapping paper, and on December 21st,  they will be holding a Holiday Toy Fair.

Hope for the Future

We asked Ann what her favorite part of working for the organization was and this is what she told us.

“It gives foster children hope for a better future, they start with kids when they are infants and will follow them into their 20’s in some cases.”

This is extremely important for a child as they grow because it provides comfort and stability to have people who will continue to work with them regardless of how much they move around. By providing that stability, the children have a better opportunity in having a wonder and successful future.

Anything helps, even if its just your time. So, if you are interested in foster care, volunteering, or donating to the Friend of Foster Children Forever please click on the link below and follow their website.

 

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