EVENTS n ON THE SCENE

enjoy doing. I met with Shanta two weeks later and she was instantly on board.

She was excited because she wanted to offer the girls a new activity. I was nervous because I wasn’ t sure if the girls would follow my leadership. Once we shared our ideas, the girls were as excited as we were that the Art of Stepping would be a new offering.

I have been volunteering at NIYC for 20 months now and it has been the best decision that I have ever made. These girls were definitely taken out of their comfort zone and were so shy to perform for their peers, friends and family when we initially started. They range in age from 7- to 15-years-old. I call them The Ladies of Destiny, or LOD for short, as they are destined for greatness. They are destined to be the change in their neighborhoods. They are destined for success and I will help build that foundation in them along with Dr. Shanta and the other volunteers at the New Image Youth Center.

For their very first competition, I drove them to Miami. As this is strictly a volunteer

program at NIYC, I am responsible for funding my initiatives with these girls myself along with NIYC. We had very little to work with as stepping is an expensive sport. There are registration fees for every competition, stepping boots and costumes to match your theme for every single performance. I had seven girls on the team at the time. I made their costumes, I did their hair and we were off. There were 3 middle school teams competing, and to say my girls were scared is an understatement. Not only that, they were the very first team to perform! They were intimidated watching the other teams prior to the showcase. Watching the older teams strolling in the audience, and just the setting in general, overwhelmed them. My girls performed and they won 2nd place at their very first competition. This developed a whole new level of confidence in them.

Every competition since then, they have always placed 2nd until recently. Stepping is not only an art form, it’ s a lifestyle; a very expensive one at that. The teams that my girls were competing against had the funding to put on full productions for their performances and really bring to life their theme, as my girls just showed up to step. At their most recent competition, however, I knew we needed more funding to create the experience necessary for them to win. I started a fundraiser on Facebook and my fiancé pushed it, calling out local businesses to support the team. We raised well over our initial goal and we WON our very first competition allowing us to go to Nationals in Atlanta, GA this summer. The girls will be competing against teams from New York, Texas, Georgia, California, etc.

This journey has been so amazing to watch and also be a part of. The excitement on the girls’ faces when they found out they won was more than I could ever ask for or even hope for. We are currently raising money so that we can make it to Georgia for Nationals and we are hoping to gain even more support that will guarantee our success.

If you are interested in donating, please visit www. newimageyouth. org. Click on the“ donate” button and leave a comment stating it is for the Ladies of Destiny step team.

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