Delaware Tech students rally for their country at Dec. 7 Zumbathon
Two students at Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus are hoping to provide their home country of the Philippines, recently devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan, with a bit of hope.
Ayla Orteza, 19, of Lewes was born in the Philippines and has family in one of the hardest hit regions of the country, Tacloban City. Michelle Lane, 19, of Bridgeville, wasn’t born in the Philippines but has visited frequently and a majority of her extended family lives in another one of the hardest hit regions, Leyte Island. After seeing the devastation, and waiting to hear if their relatives were all right, they decided to help.
Both students will be teaming with Delaware Tech and several local certified Zumba instructors to offer Zumba for the Philippines, a Zumbathon fundraiser to raise money for the United Nations Children’s Fund.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Georgetown campus gym in the Jason Technology Center. All participants will be asked to make a minimum donation of $15. 100 percent of the money raised will be donated to UNICEF.
“You see the images and hear the stories coming from over there and it really breaks your heart,” said Lane, a nursing student who moved to the United States when she was two years old. “I thought some kind of charity effort would help and raise awareness of what happened.”
Orteza, a human services major, is friends with Certified Zumba Instructor Enma Rodriguez of Flex World Fitness in Georgetown and Sea Colony in Bethany Beach. That's where the idea for a Zumbathon was born.
In addition to Zumba, Orteza will also be singing a song in both English and Tagalog, and will dance a traditional Filipino tinikling dance with Michelle to show participants more about their country.
Those who would like to donate can visit www.crowdrise.com/zumbaforthephilippines.
For more information, contact Owens Campus Public Information Officer Jason Burlew at 302-259-6102 or email jburlew@dtcc.edu.
