Moving and Shaking for Change

By Cassie Williams Jones

Last Saturday, hundreds of Richmonders came together to dance for a change. From morning to evening at the Science Museum of Richmond, participants danced, stepped and shook to raise money for two worthy causes.

Hosted by Telemundo Richmond, “Zumbathon” raised funds to benefit uninsured Latinas affected by cancer through Nueva Vida, and to support the Adelante Scholarship: Serviendo la Comunidad  Hispana, given to deserving Virginia Commonwealth University Latino students pursuing social work.

Sponsors of the event included Telemundo Richmond, Nueva Vida, VCU School of Social Work, Zumbathon Charity Event, VCU Alumni Association and the Science Museum of Virginia.

Zumba instructors demonstrated moves as participants followed along. Several community organizations also participated in the health fair portion of the event, offering free health services and information such as health screenings, dental services and HIV testing.

The Adelante Scholarship was created by the VCU School of Social Work in order to help fulfill the need for more bilingual social workers. Once it reaches its endowment, the fund will provide partial scholarships on a competitive basis to applicants with Spanish-language proficiency, as well as cultural sensitivity and competence and deep understanding of Latino communities. The VCU School of Social Work is observing its 95^th anniversary this academic year.

Scholarship recipients will complete their field placements with agencies that work directly with Latino communities. Agencies include more than 500 with which the VCU School of Social Work has relationships and places its students every year. Recipients also will have opportunities to assist with research and curriculum-planning projects directly related to social work in Latino communities.

The other beneficiary of the funds, Nueva Vida, provides a continuum of culturally sensitive cancer support services for Latinas in the Washington D.C., Baltimore and Richmond metropolitan areas. The mission of Nueva Vida is to inform, support and empower Latinas whose lives are affected by cancer, and to advocate for and facilitate the timely access to state-of-the-art cancer care, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and care.

Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness program that was created in 2001, and has become an international fitness trend. The workout on Saturday was led by local certified instructors.

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