Movement Heals:  Yoga/Zumba Fundraiser to Benefit Kids Facing a Family Member’s Cancer

DURHAM, NH — Are you looking to stretch out and get moving after a long, dreary winter?  What if you could help children who need some extra support at the same time?  On Saturday, March 10, you can do both, right here on the UNH campus in Durham.  Movement Heals is a day of fun in motion – you can sign up for yoga, zumba, or a yoga/zumba combo class, with all proceeds benefiting On Belay, a Durham-based nonprofit dedicated to offering respite and support for children whose families have been affected by cancer.

Movement Heals is a way to bring people together in a beautiful space, to have fun by moving together, to encourage first timers to try zumba or yoga, while at the same time raising money for On Belay.  The event is sponsored in part by Shakti Activewear, a Massachusetts-based company specializing in clothing designed for hot yoga.  These classes are open to the public at $20/session, with all proceeds benefitting On Belay.  In addition to the classes, Movement Heals and Shakti Activewear are co-sponsoring a raffle for a weekend getaway in Jackson, NH.  You can enter the raffle without attending the event by sending a check for $20 to On Belay (write “raffle” on the memo line) or donating online and including “raffle” in the notes field.

On Belay, the beneficiary of this unique event, provides adventure-based programs that build community for children aged 9 to 19 who are living with or who have lost a family member to cancer. On Belay was created in 2004 when late Durham resident Crescentia Healy-True, newly diagnosed with breast cancer, realized her two active and adventurous daughters needed a community of support that didn’t yet exist.  She created on Belay as a place where children like hers could find a community of peers who could join them in celebrating life, not fear.  On Belay now serves children from throughout New Hampshire, southern Maine, northern Massachusetts, and Vermont.  Programs are held throughout the year at facilities across northern New England. On Belay programs are always free to all participants, thanks to gifts from community and corporate sponsors as well as fundraising events such as Movement Heals.

Movement Heals classes (which are open to beginners and experts alike) will be held at the Gables Apartments B Community Center at UNH on Saturday, March 10.  Classes are one hour long, and are offered as follows:  9AM – zumba; 10AM – yoga; 11AM – yoga/zumba combo class (for all ages); and 12PM – yoga/zumba combo.  Classes are offered at $20/session, processds benefit On Belay programs.

ProgramDirectorDescription

Position Summary:

On Belay provides unique adventure-based programs that build trust, confidence, and community among young people who have or have had a family member with cancer.

Since its inception in 2004, the organization has grown from a small, volunteer-run program to a multifaceted organization. On Belay currently runs six program sessions throughout the year at ropes courses and climbing gyms throughout New England.

The major responsibility of the Program Director is to coordinate and manage On Belay programs.  Management of On Belay programs entails working with program locations, program facilitators, and participants, as well as participants’ families.  In addition, the Program Director will work closely with the Executive Director in several areas.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111206/NEWHAMPSHIRE10/111209927&template=mobileart

It is hard to believe that 2012 is almost here. We look forward to bringing even more On Belay programs to the families we serve in the year to come. Thanks to generous funding from The Boston Bruins Foundation, The New Hampshire Electric Co op Foundation and Speedway Children’s Charities we are able to expand our operations beyond the Great Bay region of New Hampshire.

Here are the programs dates we have confirmed so far and few hints at what else is to come for 2012.

Sunday March 4th from 9am-4pm
Plymouth State University – Plymouth, NH

Saturday April 7th from 9am-12pm
Maine Rock Gym – Portland, ME

Sunday June 10th
YMCA Camp Lincoln – Kingston, NH

Sunday September 23rd
YMCA Camp Lincoln – Kingston, NH

Sign up on the On Belay program registration page.

2012 Programs - click to download a PDF

Caution: Gingerbread Construction. This isn’t your typical fundraising event. Yes, the event is an opportunity to generate critical scholarship funds to support programming for children who have a parent with or have lost a parent to cancer. But this is also an opportunity to bring together the various groups of people who make On Belay a vibrant, thriving community.

Last year over 300 people from northern New England joined the organization for this event. Attendees ranged in age from 2 to 80 years old. This group of confectionary architects included On Belay alumni, cancer survivors, University of New Hampshire volunteers, doctors, donors, program facilitators, and other members of the Seacoast community.

For this special afternoon all of these people rolled up their sleeves and put aside whatever other priorities they had or challenges they faced to build Gingerbread houses, and, more importantly, community.

This event was conceived by a group of On Belay program volunteers from the University of New Hampshire in the winter of 2009. The two girls who spearheaded the first event saw it as a way they could provide a little holiday magic for the community and for On Belay.

The buzz from last year’s event was so widespread it attracted local philanthropist and gingerbread house legend Trudy Brown to judge the event. The event also prompted coverage from Foster’s Daily Democrat newspaper:

http://www.wmur.com/chronicle/26046942/detail.html

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010712129881

All of the funds raised from “Caution: Gingerbread Construction” will go directly to provide programming to children in need and the relationships cultivated by this event will ensure the future financial and governance leadership of the organization.

On Belay programs serve over 150 families from 41 towns throughout New England, On Belay creates community for children affected by a parent’s cancer diagnosis, and the Gingerbread event helps expand that community with participants and volunteers from around the Seacoast and beyond.

Special thanks to the following businesses for this support this year:

Newmarket International

The Walmart Foundation