History of the Event
In May 2008, Brownstone PR approached The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Philadelphia/Delaware Valley about creating an event to further increase Sickle Cell awareness throughout the region.
For the last 26 years, SCDAA/PDVC has successfully served as a vehicle and resource center for psychosocial and social service needs of children, adolescents, adults, and families, throughout Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Chester and Montgomery Counties, who are affected by sickle cell disease. Throughout the year, the organization hosts a strong line up of workshops, programming and events that educate and assist those living with the sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease, along with raising money to increase services to a huge population of individuals dealing with sickle cell anemia. While the accomplishments of SCDAA/PDVC are many (too many to list in one space), sickle cell disease continues to be a genetic disease that garners little attention.
What Brownstone PR wanted to do was create a major event that would place sickle cell disease in the media spotlight and get people talking about it. Creating a concept was easy, as the firm knew it had to do 3 things: tap into a current trend that has captured everyone's attention, get well-known individuals to participate, and guarantee free food and alcohol. At the time, the firm's intern would come in every Tuesday morning and talk about the previous night's episode of Dancing With The Stars. One day, instead of ignoring her, the higher ups listened. And they took the idea back to SCDAA/PDVC. The organization loved it.
A little over 400 individuals filled the Crystal Tea Room for the 1st Annual Dancing With The Philadelphia Stars, benefiting The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Chapter. The sold-out crowd that included the presidents of, and top executives with, Comcast, Verizon, Sovereign Bank, PNC, Wachovia, The Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Media Holdings, Radio One, Philadelphia Magazine, The Philadelphia Tribune, and The Rose Foundation. The lineup included Erin Elmore, former star of "The Apprentice"; Michael Callahan, Articles Editor at Philadelphia Magazine; Varsovia Fernandez, President of the Greater Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Christian Ramirez-Coll, reporter for CW Philly; and Jimmy Contreras, resident lifestyle consultant for FOX and owner of JimmyStyle boutique.
This year's event looks to be bigger and better!
