LANSDALE – It may have been a dreary day outside on Sunday, but inside the Jane Lopoten School of Dance, spirits were high. For the 11th consecutive year, the dance school hosted a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Organization. For breast cancer awareness month, the Lansdale-based dance studio held a Dance-a-Thon to celebrate their fundraising efforts and to raise more money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Dancers and families came to dance and participate in games non-stop from 12pm to 4pm. Studio owner Jane Lopoten was very excited about the event and all of the fun activities planned for the dancers.

“We have a lot of fun events planned for the entire day. We had a swing dance instructor volunteer her time, so the girls are getting to learn more about dance and have fun too,” said Lopoten, “For the past 10 years, we have had tea parties to fund-raise, but this year we wanted a break and do something different.”

Jane Lopoten became motivated to get involved with breast cancer awareness 11 years earlier when her best girl-friend was diagnosed. She decided she would used her resources within the community to build a strong fundraising network to make a positive impact. Her fundraising efforts became even more meaningful to Lopoten when a year later her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Over the past 11 years, we have raised over $250,000 for a cure. I’m very proud of that. Not only are we raising money for a cure, but we’re raising awareness within the community. If we can help remind women to get annual mammograms, or to help our dancers understand more about their bodies and taking care of themselves, then we are making a huge impact,” said Lopoten, “That’s why I’m so proud to run a school with mostly women. We are a strong community.”

In conjunction with the games and dancing, the studio was running a clothing drive to raise more funds for Susan G. Komen.

“With the clothing drive, we are collecting old clothes that families are bringing in. We’re doing it through a program where we get money back per pound of clothing donated, and then the clothes are going to go to people who need them,” said Lopoten.

Dancers were thrilled to be spending the day dancing with their friends to raise money for a cure. Younger dancers spent the morning with their teachers and moms, while in the afternoon, older dancers got to learn new forms of dance and practice with their friends.

“The dance-a-thon was a lot of fun today. It’s great to see everyone coming together and raising money for such a great cause,” said senior dancer Katherine Schlegel.

The studio set the goal of raising $10,000 for the event. By the end of the day they were past $8,000 and very close to their goal. The clothing drive funds have yet to be added up and donations will continue to be collected all week, so the studio is well on its way to meeting their goal.