Bodyplex zumba instructor, Desarée Murden, hosted a Party in Pink on Oct. 7 to fundraise for breast cancer research and treatment.
The event was open to the public and took place at Bodyplex Milledgeville.
The entry fee was a $10 donation to Susan G.
Komen, which allowed attendees to participate in a mixed exercise class featuring 30 minutes of Zumba and 30 minutes of Body Combat.
“This was my first time hosting an event like this.
Many zumba instructors do parties in pink but I wanted to give a class option for those who may not be comfortable dancing in front of people or have different interests,” said Murden.
Murden wanted to host this event for several years but never got her chance until 2022. As she was looking into a potential set up and getting overwhelmed, she saw a Facebook post encouraging zumba instructors to have a Party in Pink.
The post highlighted all of the reasons to do it and pushed Murden’s confidence over the edge to commit to her first fundraising event.
“I’ve always wanted to host an event like this and life continues to get in the way,” said Murden.
“However, as I was scrolling on Facebook one day, I just saw so many posts encouraging zumba instructors to do their part. I know people with breast cancer and I’ve always had this passion in my heart. I can’t say what exactly was the inspiration but all of it together brought me to planning my first Party in Pink.”
The zumba class was taught by Murden and featured a playlist around upbeat music with lyrics related to unity and positivity. For example, Togetherness by Alison Hinds promotes becoming a family and a unit with people around you. Another favorite of Murden, La Gozadera by Gente de Zona (featuring Mark Anthony), is a song about partying and being proud of your nationality.
Both of these songs were on the playlist for the event and portrayed the message she wanted to give to attendees.
“I just felt I was doing my part as a human being by hosting this event.
Zumba is something very personal and open to everyone. Awareness is also an act that involves everyone so I wanted to have a playlist that invoked feelings of energy, positivity, unity and love for oneself and their neighbors,” said Murden.
The body combat class was an add on to this event under the same thought of inclusion and togetherness. Bodyplex manager Amberly Little and certified personal trainer Lina Scaly hosted the class together for those who did not want to participate in zumba.
Body combat is a high-energy martial arts-inspired workout that is totally non-contact so anyone of any experience level could take part.
“A big part of fundraising is creating an event that is inclusive to everyone. I understand not everyone can physically participate in zumba or are comfortable doing so. That is why we offered body combat as a choice and I am thankful to my coworkers for teaching it,” said Murden.
Alongside the classes they hosted a raffle that was open to the public, even those who did not attend either class. Anyone could buy one ticket or a bundle of five with the chance to win a range of prizes including Jimmy John’s gift cards, a Slice Bakery gift certificate, trainer sessions, a Zumba party certificate and more. Murden hopes to be able to host another Party in Pink next year to support breast cancer research and treatment again.
