Top: Community celebrity Jodi Loar dancing with dance instructor and two time event winner Guillermo Gonzales during the 2011 event. Above: Kevin Chauncey enjoying the day at one of his favorite places, the Audubon Zoo. Far Left: Event chairperson Sharon Morris.

Stepping Up to the Challenge

Posted November 8, 2011

TAKING INSPIRATION from television’s Dancing with the Stars, this Louisiana volunteer launched a successful—and entertaining—fundraiser to aid families with special needs.

Jan Chauncey is a single parent who lives with her son, Kevin, in Baton Rouge, La.  Kevin is a 24-year-old who can not be left alone, who needs help with basic, everyday tasks, and whom Jan loves dearly.

“Sometimes I need a break, and he needs to be able to get out more with people,” Jan explained. “My case manager told me about the new Ascension Elder Care and Center Based Respite in Gonzales, which is only 15 minutes from our house. I love it, and he loves it. Kevin spends about eight hours there every Wednesday. The people who work there are so kind. For me, just to be able to do simple things, such as getting away to buy groceries by myself and getting everything put away—it’s a wonderful help that has made such a difference in our lives.”

Helping people like Jan and Kevin Chauncey is the reason Sharon Morris serves on the board of directors for The Arc of East Ascension/Community Opportunities of East Ascension (COEA). Based in Ascension Parish, the COEA serves physically and developmentally challenged residents, offering such critical services as employment assistance, support for independent living, and the beautiful new center Jan gladly commutes to. The respite care she and Kevin enjoy is designed to offer caregivers a much-needed break, and can be a week’s vacation, a weekly day out or just a couple of hours for a quiet dinner. 

“We try to build awareness, to let people know that we’re here for the community so families that really need some support will know there’s help out there,” says Sharon, whose day job is senior financial service specialist at Regions in Gonzales.

Sharon has always called Ascension Parish home. Though she now lives in Gonzales, she actually was across the parish line in Baton Rouge when she got the idea for an enormously successful COEA fundraiser called “Dancing for a Cause.”   “I had gone to a Baton Rouge event inspired by Dancing with the Stars and later found out that a friend of mine was involved with it,” remembers Sharon.  “So I asked her if she would mind if I brought that idea to Gonzales.” 

That was in 2009. By the following year, “Dancing for a Cause” had already outgrown the civic center in Gonzales and had to be moved to a 2,000-seat expo center. This year, the number of corporate tables more than doubled. Continuing its winning formula of pairing professional dancers with local TV personalities and other crowd-pleasing hometown celebs, Dancing for a Cause 2011 raised $65,000 for COEA.

Without question, Dancing for a Cause has become a signature event in Gonzales. Sharon credits the hard work of volunteers, the enormous support from local media and businesses, and the generosity of people like Louisiana legend Irma Thomas, “the soul queen of New Orleans,” who made a special guest appearance.

“If she had charged us to sing, it would’ve cost thousands of dollars,” Sharon said. “But she did it for free. Her husband is from Ascension Parish.”

Proceeds from this year’s event will pay for a van to help Ascension families get to the services they need.  Meanwhile, Sharon already has locals lining up to volunteer next year.  Or as she puts it, with a laugh, “I can’t beat ’em off!” 

SHARON MORRIS is a Regions Associate

[Editor’s Note: Next year’s Dancing for a Cause event will be held July 14, 2012. For information, contact Sharon at 225-995-4683 or The Arc of Ascension at 225-621-2014.]

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