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On the Dance Floor...

Motown Free Dance

See what's new for DOD in 2015!

It's Motown Freestyle Dance this Saturday

1/10/15, 1-3 p.m.!

Let's start 2015 off right with a freestyle dance to some of Motown's greatest hits! Dance along to songs from The Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, and many more!

We'll be at the African American Art & Culture Complex located at 762 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 (Muni access & free parking).

No need to register. Just show up! For $10, ($5 if you can't afford) you get a $277 value health screening.

Please arrive promptly at 1 p.m. for check-in (or 1:15 p.m. if you are not doing the health screening). Bring water, a snack if you need it, and comfortable shoes.

Have a question? Call Grace at 1-877-765-4386 or email her at grace@danceoutdiabetes.org.

A Little Door Charge and DOD Sustainability

Why We Will Charge $10 (or $5 sliding scale)

Dear DOD family ~ as discussed before our December dance, we asked for your input and willingness to pay $10 per dance. By overwhelming majority, the answer was YES!

We know this is less than most co-pays, but we also do not want it to be a burden or barrier, so this is what we will do. If you cannot afford $10, then we will accept $5 as our rock-bottom sliding scale price. Granted, it will not cover expenses but will help to keep us going.

To show good will, we will give everyone ONE free dance pass this year. That way if you didn't get this message, or show up at the door without cash, check or a credit card, we will offer one free pass to everyone. Everyone will get the heads-up and forewarning without being turned away.

Subsequent dances you will be asked to pay in order to participate, so please plan ahead to avoid the annoyance of not chipping in. DOD is a non-profit organization and we are a business that needs to be fair to everyone and follow standards. Most exercise classes charge at least $10 and I know of NONE that offer ongoing health screening with diabetes experts at the ready. You get at least $277 worth of health screening and a fun physical activity that will leave you smiling... all for the cost of a trip to Starbucks.

To incentivize this process, we are offering a discount as follows. If you donate $100 minimum starting 12/31/14, you do not have to mess with the door entrance fees. If you come to all dances, this saves you $20. If you donate $200, you can sponsor someone else who will then not need to pay entrance fees.

We have been able to survive on quite some time on a shoestring budget. The past couple of years, we have been very generous, giving BACK thousands of dollars in carrot cash to YOU. Yes, we PAID for those carrot cash dollars out of our budget - they were not a donation from the Farmer's Market Association. What other diabetes organization has paid their participants to attend? Only DOD. Well, that was helpful and a blast to give back, but now we need your help to keep going. Without any corporate sponsors or grants this year, we are really on a tight budget. In fact, some diabetes organizations with over a million dollar budget (that charge participants) have folded this past year. Since we don't have any full-time paid staff, our model is sustainable as long as we raise about $30,000 per year.

If you haven't heard from Theresa personally, please consider this as a plea for support. You can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking on this link. We will send you the tax-deductible letter and if you donate the $100 or more, we will keep track of it to waive your door entrance fees. There is a section in the donation area where you can note anything, including your participant number.

For any questions, email Theresa, the new Treasurer, at tgarnero@danceoutdiabetes.org

Check in and Clinic Update

Please note the following important updates we will take to streamline the check-in process.

1. You will maintain the ID number that you had in 2014. No new consents needed (only new participants need to sign consent and get a participant number).

2. At registration, we will have 2 stations as before. The first area is registration (you can skip this if you already have an ID number). The second area is check-in and cashier. This is where you will pay the small entrance fee as described above or have it waived if you paid for the year, and get checked in for the dance. We will keep track of who has paid for the entire year for those donating $100 or more.

3. Participants no longer have to complete the half sheet of questions at each dance. :)

4. Participants will still get a wallet card and will be responsible for tracking their own results. These wallet cards have been updated so you can enter the date of the dance. They are expensive so please bring your card each time! DOD will not track your results. When you finish the dance and get your glucose checked, bring your wallet card back to the diabetes educators so your results can be entered onto your card.

5. We will no longer have a staffed station for height, weight and waist circumference. Participants can self measure weight and waste. Height will not be available.

6. No more carrot cash. Sorry. If we get a big sponsor or donor, we can reconsider.

7. Bring your own water and a snack if needed. These are donated from time to time, but not available at each dance.

The great music of DJ Charis and fun dances with our talented pool of instructors will
continue as before. Thank you for being willing to help us continue.

_________________________________________________________

Happy, Healthy Wishes from Grace

I want to welcome everyone back to Dance out
Diabetes! It's with all your support and help that we will thrive through the year and beyond.

I'd like to make a SHOUT OUT to Dr. Lonna Denny of SF Spine Pain Relief Center and Elaine Chan of 450 Sutter Pharmacy for the wonderful hosting of our December dance. They both made it a memorable one. We appreciate all the information, support, and guidance that they provide to us as individuals and as the DOD Community. Kudos to both of them and the more than 50 participants we had in total!

As the new executive director, I would like to hear from each and everyone one of you. Your ideas, suggestions and participation are very important to me and to the survival of DOD. We have received suggestions of a new location, types of music and dance, and a volunteer to help set up and break down on each dance day. Thank you, one and all.

Your help is needed to pass out the 2015 DOD postcards which we will bring to the January Motown dance. If you live by a hospital in SF that has a diabetes clinic or even know someone who is prediabetic, please drop off cards to them. The more we spread the word that we are here, the more participants will come. We will THRIVE!

Again, I would like to welcome you to Dance Out Diabetes 2015! I salute you.

To your health,

Grace

Grace Uniacke

Executive Director

Want to do the right thing for your body or support someone with prediabetes or diabetes (all types)? Feel like smiling while being active and not mess up your hair? Then come join the caring community of non-dancers having fun moving to music. Stay connected with us on Facebook (you don't have to have a Facebook account to read our updates).