Community Rallies to Dance in Memory of Gabby Vogel

Event organizer Lindsay Getz submitted the following information:

On September 11, 2011, 5-year old Gabriella Martha Vogel lost her short but courageous fight against brain cancer. Diagnosed with a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) at the beginning of the summer, this “explosively aggressive brain tumor” (as Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia doctors called it) took her life in less than four months. The median survival rate for children diagnosed with DIPG is approximately nine months.

Gabby (as she was affectionately known) dealt with devastating side effects brought on by the tumors in her head. In a short time frame, Gabby went from a girl who loved playing with her two sisters and her puppy, wearing pink sparkly shoes, “playing princess,” and doing gymnastics to spending the majority of her days and hours in a hospital bed at CHOP. In order to help with her fight, a Zumbathon® was organized for September 24 to raise funds. Though Gabby has passed, the fundraiser will go on. The family still has mountains of unpaid medical bills—so many that they haven’t even opened them all. Event organizers anticipate a large turn-out of community rallying for Gabby’s family and hope funds can be used for some of these needs.

A Zumbathon is essentially the modern day version of a “walk-a-thon.” Instead of walking for a cause, participants will dance! On Sept. 24, participants will dance in memory of little Gabby’s life. The Gabby Vogel Zumbathon MEMORIAL Fitness Event will be held at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Royersford, PA, running from 9 AM until Noon. The event is sponsored by CoreFit Training Studio in Royersford, PA, and Skinny Water. Besides Zumba dance, led by certified Zumba instructors, there will be plenty of other exciting events taking place including a bake sale, merchandise and vendor sales, and a Skinny Water “Hydration Station” with free Skinny Water for participants. A variety of local businesses and vendors have rallied to help support the cause. Prizes being raffled off include items like field-level seats to a Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs game, a “Day in Cape May,” a photography package from Collegeville professional photographer Mandy Keep, a gift certificate to Limerick-based Piazzao Presto and an exciting array of gift baskets from Pampered Chef, Tastefully Simple, Avon, and much more.

Tickets are $15 in advance and can be purchased by e-mailing zumbaforgabby@gmail.com or by stopping in CoreFit in Royersford or Charmed Spirit in Phoenixville. For more information on Gabby and her family, visit www.getwellgabby.org