The dynamic duo of Sandy Caughron and Margo Jennings has been teaming up to support ShelterCare for the past four years. Each October they pour hundreds of hours of volunteer time into organizing an event called Thrill the World Eugene. Thrill the World is an annual global attempt to break the world record for the largest simultaneous “Thriller" dance (to the Michael Jackson song) while raising money for charity. In 2012, Eugene joined Thrill the World for the first time and each year has assembled about 200 zombie dancers to perform and raise funds. Since partnering with ShelterCare, the dancers have raised nearly $15,000 to support our programs.
Sandy Caughron explains, "All of our dancers feel empowered to be fundraising during our dance season."
They practice the dance weekly in the month leading up to the big day. They also perform the dance in flash mobs throughout the month of October. This year they were invited to perform before a University of Oregon football game in the Boy Scouts of America tailgate parking area. Eighty dancers came out on this extra day of dancing and raised more than $1,000 for ShelterCare. Sandy recalls, "The number of dancers that committed to that very busy day was amazing and their exuberance to participate was outstanding."
Margo reflects that, "For four years it has been very satisfying to help communicate ShelterCare's message to our community through dance. The spirit of our 'Thriller' dance shows how powerful a community can be when we all work together to make things happen. We are very thankful to be a part of ShelterCare."
We greatly appreciate Sandy and Margo's years of commitment. If you want to join them next year, visit their website.