A silent disco fundraiser is coming to Charlottesville this weekend as part of the Tom Tom Festival—bringing together music, community, and support for survivors. WMRA’s Anjoleigh Schindler reports.
On the Downtown Mall, people will be dancing—just not all to the same song.
At the “Groove for Good” silent disco, each person gets a pair of headphones with three different channels—oldies, pop, and 90s or 2000s hits. The result is a crowd moving together, but to completely different beats.
Sherri McKinney leads the Foothills Children’s Advocacy Center.
SHERRI MCKINNEY: And people are singing and people are dancing, but people are singing different songs and dancing, and it's just, it's very fun.
The event is part of the Downtown Mall Block Party and builds on a similar silent disco hosted by the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, or SARA for short, last fall.
This time, the two organizations are teaming up—raising money through a pay-what-you-can model to keep the event accessible.
McKinney says that support is essential. Foothills assists with child abuse investigations — but isn’t fully government-funded.
MCKINNEY: But yeah, this funding, this silent disco, and you know, the fundraising that SARA and Foothills does is really critical.
Held during Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the event also focuses on prevention.
MCKINNEY: You know, people just need to know something as easy, as simple as checking in on a family, and people need to know how to report child abuse if they suspect it, and the law says that you can report and you should report if you suspect.
The fundraiser also reflects a growing partnership between Foothills and SARA, which now share an office space in Charlottesville—an uncommon setup that helps them better serve overlapping clients.
McKinney says that she hopes that collaboration could one day expand into a centralized family justice center—bringing services like law enforcement, therapy, and advocacy under one roof.
And if you’re on the fence—
MCKINNEY: Come! It's going to be a blast, and it's just a really nice way to get out of the house and do something completely different.
The silent disco runs Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. on the Downtown Mall, with music provided by the entertainment company Good Times Only.
