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Name: Thaddeus Cole

Hometown: Kettering, Ohio

Major: Psychology

Chosen Engagement Track: Creativity

Title of Project: Flash Mobs for Charity

Description of Project:

The original plan was to get a group of dancers and perform three different hip-hop dance numbers taking place at various locations. One at SUU, one in the mall in St. George, and all three at one of the malls up by Salt Lake City. Plans to raise money for gas were made to get all of the dancers to these locations and to arrange various locations for sleeping arrangements. Due to rules and regulations, none of the malls allowed flash mobs to take place on their properties. The goal was to raise no less than $2,000 for three organizations, American Red Cross, The ALS Foundation, and Breast Cancer Awareness. I ended up raising money for LDS Humanitarian Aid, The ALS Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness, and added the National Ataxia Foundation because one of the performers had relatives whose lives have been effected by Ataxia. We only ended up raising a grand total of $40 due to only two performances taking place at SUU. The videos of the performances are posted on Youtube.com with hopes of raising more money even though this project has come to a conclusion.

What was the inspiration?

The inspiration for this project was my insatiable love for dance. When I was young, dance was a way for me to cope with life’s challenges. Dance is something that has become a huge part of my life and brings me so much happiness. So, I wanted to utilize dance in a way that benefited others in a similar fashion that it helped me when I was younger. I have always wanted to put together flash mobs and when this project was presented to me I immediately knew that “Flash Mobs for Charity” was going to be the route I would take.

Challenges of the project:

Some of the challenges of this project were that the original plan was to perform in various malls in the Salt Lake area of Utah, at the mall in St. George, Utah, and at SUU. The flash mobs were declined permission to perform at any of the malls due to safety rules and regulations of the facilities. I knew this was going to influence the amount of money that would be raised for these organizations. Another challenge was the amount of dancers available to perform. They all had varying schedules; as a result of this, the three flash mobs were condensed down to two but each performance was still geared towards the theme of each organization.

Who else the project benefitted:

This project benefited LDS Humanitarian Aid, The ALS Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness, and the National Ataxia Foundation due to donation provided by those who viewed the flash mobs at SUU. It also benefited those who viewed and donated because they became more aware of the purpose of the organizations money was being raised for. The others who benefited from this project were all the dancers who participated in the performances. Each one of them was willing to participate as a result of being informed of what the organization stood for.

How I benefited from this project:

The project benefited me because it provided me with the opportunity to fulfill my dream to choreograph flash mobs. It also provided a way to utilize one of my deepest passions in a fashion that would provide aid to others. During the journey of this project, one of the dancers informed me about the National Ataxia Foundation and what Ataxia was. Because of this I was able to gain more knowledge about Ataxia which helped me become more aware of the aid that is needed for those that have it. Finally, because we got to only perform at SUU, I was able to realize and learn from the challenges presented during this project. I learned of other ways to raise money and still perform the flash mobs to raise even more awareness.