The eight participants in this year’s Dancing with the Johnson County Stars have spent months twirling, twisting, tapping and tangoing across the stage.
The process has been hard work, but fun at the same time.
But when it comes to raising money through the competition for good causes throughout the county, they’re all business.
Dancing with the Johnson County Stars returns to the stage on Sept. 8 and 9, as the eight dedicated participants show off their moves to help nonprofits across the county. Their months of fundraising and rehearsal culminate in a two-night performance, with hundreds of people coming out to cheer on their friends and families.
Since starting nine years ago, the competition has helped raise more than $3.5 million.
“You’re going to see some great dancing this year, and some unique dancing as well. But it’s not about the dancing — it’s about raising money for good causes,” said Barb Miller, organizer of Dancing with the Johnson County Stars.
Dancing with the Johnson County Stars was created by Miller in 2014 to play off the popularity of the hit television show, “Dancing with the Stars.” She had seen other similar events in central Indiana, and thought it would be a good way to raise money to support area organizations.
The event is a platform allowing small nonprofits to participate in a major event with no financial risk, Miller said. Event sponsors pay all of the costs of the event — printing, venue, dance lessons, etc. The agencies and their dancers do fundraising and keep all of the money they raise.
With the contest format, the fundraiser could help multiple nonprofits at the same time, rather than go to just one agency.
“It’s not just one agency. It draws people from all over the community who support their different agencies, and I think that helps a lot,” Miller said. “And we’ve had a lot of different agencies take part. When I started it, I thought we’d have eight agencies do it every year and they’d develop their signature fundraiser. That hasn’t happened; we’ve had close to 25 agencies who have participated.”
Each dancer is asked to raise $5,000 on their own for the agency they’re representing, while the organizations themselves add on to that number. Whoever raises the most is named the Most Valuable Dancer at the event. The coveted Mirror Ball Trophy goes to the agency and dancer that raises the most money, Miller said.
In the first year of the event, participants raised more than $180,000 combined for their individual groups. That number has increased year after year, including the record $1.6 million that came in 2021.
Though this year’s fundraising is not expected to rise to that level, participating nonprofits will still take home valuable funds to go toward their missions.
“That’s what makes it all worthwhile — teaching them what to do and how to do it, giving them some motivation and some competition,” Miller said.
This year’s event benefits Johnson County charities Turning Point Domestic Violence Services, Franklin-Union-Needham Township, Bridges Alliance of Johnson County, Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy, Gateway Services and Access Johnson County, Humane Society of Johnson County, Dance Every Journey and ASSIST Indiana.
Working with their designated dancers, each agency has come up with unique fundraisers throughout the year. Doug Gray, a local pastor and chaplain dancing for Gateway Services, has offered birdwatching tours at Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area.
Dance Every Journey, which offers dance programs to seniors and veterans, held a Bowl-a-Thon in July, inviting people to bowl as much as they could for two hours. They also held a Sunflower Festival at Dollie’s Farm, with proceeds from goat yoga going toward their cause.
ASSIST Indiana generated funds by selling scarecrow kits for the upcoming Scarecrow Madness display. Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy held a back-to-school dance.
“Everything has been going really well. I’ve been watching the numbers, and while I’m not sure we’ll beat last year’s $411,000, we’re going to give it a run for its money,” Miller said.
Franklin-Union-Needham Township is participating this year to support its Joint Action Kare Initiative, or the JAKI program. The program helps the Franklin and Bargersville police departments provide immediate shelter assistance for people who are identified after township offices are closed.
The township’s dancer, Jaki Eckles, is the inspiration for the program and benefitted from it. Dancing is a way for her to give back.
“It’s just so exciting to go from being completely homeless, helpless and sick to representing the community in a charity dance,” she said in May.
For the township, being able to be part of Dancing with the Johnson County Stars is an opportunity to raise money that will almost immediately go into the JAKI program.
”It’s all geared towards that JAKI fund. We can use that to help people in the middle of the night or whenever,” said Lydia Wales, FUN Township trustee. “Coming into the winter months, I’m always nervous when that fund is getting low, because that’s the time of year when we need it, during the winter.”
Raising funds gets the most attention during the yearly event. But as useful for the participating agencies has been a chance to reach new audiences and put a spotlight on all they bring to the community.
“It helps the small agencies raise awareness of their mission and what they try to accomplish. Otherwise, they’re operating in a cave, where no one knows much about them,” Miller said. “Several of them have said the sharing of information has been more valuable even than the money they raise.”
IF YOU GO
Dancing With the Johnson County Stars
What: A dancing competition featuring community members representing and raising money for eight local organizations.
When: 7 p.m. Sept. 8 and 9
Where: Historic Artcraft Theatre, 57 N. Main St., Franklin
Tickets: Friday Preview — adults $10, children 12 and under $5; Saturday Main Event — adults $30, children $10 (includes refreshment). Tickets are available at the Artcraft Theatre, from any of the participating agencies and by calling 317-409-0908.
Dancers and agencies:
Wayne Fancher — Turning Point Domestic Violence Services
Jaki Eckles — Franklin-Union-Needham Township
Charles Miller — Bridges Alliance of Johnson County
Bruce Varney — Creative Grounds Fine Arts Academy
Beau Jackson — ASSIST Indiana
Doug Gray — Gateway Services/Access Johnson County
Ella Sutton — Humane Society of Johnson County
Rachel Newbrough — Dance Every Journey
Information and tickets: Facebook.com/DWTJCS or historicartcrafttheatre.org/movie-and-events-schedule.
