Emily Chan
Many organizations have come up with innovative ways to raise money for a cause they care about, but this one is by far the most creative idea.
A TikTok user named Macey Hall (@maceyphall) shared a video about a group of moms of all ages in Fairfield, Connecticut, who have become known for their annual Halloween dance performances. The video has amassed 1.4 million views.
The moms call themselves “MOMbies,” and every year, they dress up as frightening zombies and dance the night away to raise funds to go toward breast cancer research.
One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes. Several of the moms participating in the performances are survivors of breast cancer themselves.
The movement started in the fall of 2016 when Terry Davis, the creator and director of MOMbies, asked some friends to learn a dance routine to surprise their friends and families with on Halloween night. They kept their plans a secret from everyone, pretending to go to Zumba class as their cover.
The show was a huge hit, and soon after, they realized they could establish a bigger purpose behind their performances—funding metastatic breast cancer research. To put on the best show possible, the moms are always coming up with new dance choreography and putting in the practice to get the moves down.
In 2017, the MOMbies struck again on the spookiest night of the year, and once more in 2019, when they moved and grooved to the song “This Is Me.” After a brief pause due to the pandemic, they came back with a bang, dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Videos of them dancing have been viewed by millions of people across the nation, inspiring many to donate to the cause. Their project is still in continuation, and hopefully, it will carry on for years to come.
So far, the MOMbies have raised over $115,000. According to their website, every penny of the proceeds is matched and goes toward the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan, two of the world’s top cancer research centers.
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