Pole Dancing Across America To Raise Money For Refugees

This is no ordinary fundraiser. A Windsor-based dancer will be pole-dancing across the country to raise money for refugees around the world. The premise: Everyone can make a difference. And when you do what you love, you can spread love to those who need it most.

Dancer Jane Haynie partnered with Think Humanity, a Loveland-based nonprofit that provides aid and support to refugees in Uganda, to raise money for bed nets, food, clean water and education for refugees abroad.

Two days. Seven states. Seven freestyle pole dances. The goal: $150 raised at each stop. The total impact is expected to exceed $1,000.

The campaign, "Think Humanity: Pole Dancing Across the U.S.," launches Sunday, Aug. 19, when Haynie (stage name: Jayne Unchained) begins her road-trip across the country with stops in seven different states. She will perform a unique freestyle pole dance at each stop to modern and African-inspired music and share quotes and statistics about the conditions in Uganda to raise awareness about the mission.

Beth Heckel of Loveland founded Think Humanity - a grassroots organization that continues to grow and build partnerships, especially with movements that empower women to become leaders - in 2007. She was inspired to do so after her daughter Aimee Heckel visited the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in western Uganda to write a story for the Boulder Daily Camera about the devastating conditions refugees experienced.

"Every aspect of your life has the potential to make a difference, and every person has the ability to improve the world in the ways that they can, using their skills, passions and resources," Aimee says. "As a board member and as a mother of a little girl, I hope to encourage women to break out of social limitations, find their soul's fire and share it with the world - whether that is an African girl who dreams of being a political leader in a male-dominant field, or a Colorado woman who wants to transform a regular road trip into a philanthropic and artist fusion."

She adds, "I took a risk going to Uganda alone as a young female journalist. This sparked my mother to take a risk by starting this nonprofit, which has sparked countless thousands of other refugee girls to take a risk and go to school, start a business or get health care. Those women, unknowing, have inspired Jane to take her own risk: to spearhead a fundraiser like nothing anyone has ever seen before. One brave step at a time, we are all growing and helping each other."

Haynie's preparations began months before launch. "It's amazing how a simple family road-trip can quickly become something so much more meaningful," she says. "I have always wanted to help children in Third-World countries, and I'm thrilled to be able to use an athletic and artistic passion to make a significant difference to those suffering abroad."

Haynie, her husband, and her two children will embark on the campaign together; they chose Think Humanity, knowing the organization gives 100 percent of donations directly to the people it helps. There is no overhead or administrative budget, a rarity among nonprofits. Further campaign and donation information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/donate/1847719928653701/

To help save lives and provide hope for refugees and underdeveloped communities in Africa by improving provisions for healthcare, clean water, education and socio-economic development.

"To help others should be a blessing not a burden. Be blessed!" - Founder Beth Heckel

Learn more about Think Humanity at www.thinkhumantiy.org.

Jane Haynie (Jayne Unchained) has been taking pole classes and private lessons at Vertical Fusion in Fort Collins, Colorado since 2016. Since her entry into the art, she has delivered solo performances regularly in front of audiences large and small, collaborated on group performances, and expanded into chair and chain dancing. For more information, visit her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JayneUnchained