Akron Children’s patient Pano Tsarouhas took home the top prize at this year’s Dancing for the Kids fundraising event.
It was another record-breaking year for Dancing for the Kids! The 7th annual fundraising event, hosted by the Emerging Leaders of Akron Children’s Hospital, raised $200,000 to benefit the School and Community Oncology Outreach Program (SCOOP) at Akron Children’s Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders.
The event, presented by Adams, Gut & Associates, featured 10 local celebrities who performed on the Akron Civic Theatre stage with their University of Akron dance partners to raise money for Akron Children’s –
- Nicole Dix – Customer Service Manager, Wells Fargo
- John Fargo – Director, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, and Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist, Akron Children’s Hospital
- Elizabeth Gerard – Women’s Board, Akron Children’s Hospital
- Kristian Hoeh – Vice President and General Auditor, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
- Amy Cook Lyden – Past Owner and Current Instructor, Yoga Lounge, Hudson, OH
- Frankie Martina – Board Member, Showers Family Foundation
- Michelle O’Brien – Executive Store Leader, Portage Crossing Giant Eagle Market District
- Dan Tompkins – Partner, Ernst & Young
- Pano Tsarouhas – Patient at Akron Children’s Hospital
- Patrick Winslow – Manager of Strategic Pricing and Marketing Analytics, FedEx Custom Critical
Some of the evening’s fan favorites included Dr. Fargo, who started his routine wearing a chicken suit and said he learned some things from his wife and daughter who are both dancers, and Michelle O’Brien, who worked popular dance moves flossing and dabbing into her routine. She even got judges Vish Bhatt and Justin Hilton and emcee Keith Kennedy, from 98.1 KDD, to attempt flossing on stage, much to the audience’s delight.
Dancing for the Kids judge Vish Bhatt attempted flossing on stage after Michelle O’Brien, right, and McKenna Biss’s, left, routine.
“My kids told me not to floss, so that was the first thing I told McKenna (her University of Akron dance partner) I wanted to do,” O’Brien told the judges after her performance.
The judges for the event included Hilton, senior administrator, community outreach at Kent State University; Bhatt, operations manager for the Showers Family Center at Akron Children’s; and Patricia Parianos, raw materials planning lead, Americas supply chain at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
The judges only gave one perfect score that evening – to Akron Children’s cancer patient Pano Tsarouhas. Tsarouhas completed chemotherapy and radiation for Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, in May and is a sophomore at Revere Local Schools. He performed a traditional Greek dance that he said he has done “countless times,” with his sister and cousin joining him and his University of Akron dance partner on stage and the crowd clapping along.
Akron Children’s cancer patient Pano Tsarouhas wowed the crowd with a traditional Greek dance.
Tsarouhas received the “Best Dancer” mirror ball trophy and also raised the most money of the dancers with $38,800.
Kristian Hoeh and Amy Cook Lyden also took home mirror ball trophies for their fundraising efforts – Hoeh raised $23,523 and Lyden raised $26,682.
At the end of the night, $181,760 was announced as the fundraising total, but an anonymous donor came forward after the event and said they would like to contribute the remainder to bring the total to $200,000.
“Everyone’s hard work and generosity with this event always blows me away and this year was no exception,” said Machelle Syx, corporate alliance program manager at Akron Children’s. “We’re so grateful to the dancers, the Emerging Leaders and the community for supporting this event and the Showers Family Center.”
Enjoy more photos from the fundraising event below –
Dance Unlimited kicked off the evening’s event with a beautiful performance.
Akron Children’s Women’s Board member Elizabeth Gerard, left, was the first celebrity dancer to take the stage and impressed the judges by ending her routine with a split.
Amy Cook Lyden, right, also ended her routine impressively, with a cartwheel. She also shared that she lost her brother when he was 13 to cancer and he was treated at Akron Children’s, so fundraising for the event was very personal for her.
FedEx’s Patrick Winslow, center, brought some humor to the night, taking the stage in a Browns jersey and performing a routine that had him chasing a championship.
Nicole Dix, from Wells Fargo, (right) brought the 60s back with fun choreography and some white go-go boots, and also ended her routine with a bang – literally, because she shot off a confetti cannon.
Giant Eagle’s Michelle O’Brien, right, and her University of Akron dance partner, McKenna Biss on the left, made it rain on stage during their “Dancing in the Rain” routine.
The crowd loved Dan Tompkin’s routine, which was a mash-up of popular songs “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake, “In My Feelings” by Drake and “High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco and featured some moves from the video game Fortnite.
Goodyear’s Kristian Hoeh also did a throwback routine, dancing with University of Akron student Teresa Catterlin to the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”
Showers Family Foundation board member Frankie channeled his inner Danny Zuko for his routine, which turned out to be quite a feat because he admitted after his dance that he’s never seen the movie ‘Grease.’
After describing his dancing style as a mix between Justin Bieber and Fred Astaire, Dr. John Fargo impressed the crowd and the judges with his dance and received a standing ovation from the audience.
After receiving two 100’s and a 10,900 from the judges, judge Justin Hilton presented patient Pano Tsarouhas with the mirror ball trophy for “Best Dancer.”
While the audience waited for the event’s results, they were treated to another special dance routine. Dancers from Dianna Durkin Dance Studio took to the stage to perform an inspiring routine in honor of their fellow dancer Marley, who battled brain cancer. Marley’s sister, Madison, dressed in white on the left, performed with the group.
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