Giving back to the community

It began just as COVID hit.

In late March 2020, just as the pandemic was taking hold, I was leaving my dentist’s office in Leesburg when a woman approached me with her two young children. She told me she had just been thrown out of her hotel room for nonpayment. The restaurant where she worked had closed due to COVID, leaving her suddenly unemployed. She had no possessions—only a small trash bag with clothes for herself and her children.

I took the family to McDonald’s and bought them breakfast, then drove them to two homeless shelters in Leesburg. Both were full and unable to take a mother with two small children. I was told there were no shelters in the area with available space at that time.

I paid for one night at a hotel and helped connect her with a local church that agreed to assist. Eventually, I found additional support through the Come As You Are Ministry, which provided free meals and access to showers. A pastor from a local church and I covered two more nights at the hotel.

I never learned what ultimately happened to her and her children, but I worried about them for weeks.

In July 2020, I was diagnosed with cancer. That diagnosis forced me to reevaluate my life. I realized that while I had been enjoying everything The Villages has to offer, I hadn’t done enough to give back to the community that had blessed me in so many ways.

As 2021 rolled in, and after several months of chemotherapy, I decided to take action. I secured a recreation center room with the idea of hosting a dance to raise funds for local homeless charities. Being part of the musical community in The Villages, I reached out to entertainers I knew and asked if they would be willing to perform in support of this cause.

The response was overwhelming.

On April 3, 2021, we hosted our first dance, featuring three groups of local entertainers. That evening, we raised $500 for the Come As You Are Ministry in Leesburg—the very organization that had stepped in to help that young mother and her two children.

That night changed everything. What began as a simple idea became a calling—and in that moment, DWOP and Friends Charity Dances was born, with a mission to give back in a lasting and meaningful way.

The mission of DWOP and Friends Charity Dances is twofold:
to support local homeless charities that provide critical services to individuals and families in need, and to support local entertainers by giving them a stage to share their talents while contributing to a greater cause. Every dance brings together music, community, generosity, and purpose—proving that when people come together, lives can be touched and hope can be restored.

What started as one night of music and giving has grown into an ongoing commitment to our community—one dance at a time.