The Cole Auditorium held the Dancing with the Stars fundraiser last Saturday, which raised almost $100,000 for Richmond County Hospice.
The $95,000 raised last Saturday was more than the $83,000 raised the year before. President Jeff Smart of the Richmond County Commission said that this was because more people were interested in the event each year.
“That makes me so proud.” Heard that they were sold out? People, that doesn’t happen in Richmond County. People called me today to ask for tickets, but I couldn’t get them in the back door, Smart said. “…
We made more than $83,000 last year. We had more sponsors, which is good news. We sold all of our tickets, which is the most that can be done. Our dancers made a high number of sales.
In addition to dance acts, the event had a contest where many restaurants showed off their sweets. There were also performances by several dance groups from the area and more than 18 contestants in a dance competition.
“Thank you all so much for coming tonight to support Richmond County Hospice and our goal to help people in our community who are dying.” Without all of you, this beautiful night with a Bridgerton theme would not be possible. “Guys, we were sold out, which is crazy,” HR manager at Richmond County Hospice Kristina Leyden said.
Even though everyone else did really well, the winners were high school sweethearts Ty Brewington and Rahmeishia McKiver. After their first performance, they went to the finals with sisters Brandy Wheeler and Jessica Wheeler-White and couple JC and Karen Everett, but one more energetic performance helped them win.
When Sharon Nichols and Mary Kate Lambeth taught us, they were great. It was all worth it to be dancing with my honey. It’s much easier because you can’t see much of the crowd with the lights on. The last dance was with us. “It made me nervous,” McKiver said.
Even though there were a lot of people watching, McKiver and Brewington kept their cool during their last dance. The couple felt like all the hard work was worth it when they won the grand prize.
“I feel great.” I didn’t have much time to get ready. To be honest, I didn’t see the crowd. I was more interested in her during the second dance. I put up some barriers to keep the crowd out. I’m just glad we won. I gave up a lot of time… I’m shocked that we won. “We ran into each other a lot, but it was all worth it,” Brewington said.