The History of WMCD Inc.

For many years, a strong South Glens Falls, New York Community has hosted a ‘marathon dance’ that has raised over eight million dollars for charities and community recipients. In the summer of 2021, a group of Westfield-based volunteers, brought together by Fr. Dan Pacholec, were inspired by the scale and energy of this event and came together to dream up ways to bring an event of the same scale to Western Massachusetts. At the time, this idea was larger than life, but with the help of folks at the South High Marathon Dance, and through the volunteer’s dedication of their energy, time, and knowledge, we established our nonprofit organization under the name ‘Western MA Charity DanceAthon’, under Director Paul Federici.

As our inaugural event in February 2022 approached, the COVID-19 pandemic showed no signs of slowing down, and the difficult decision was made to cancel the first public overnight event but to hold still a small and powerful private event where two recipients, Rick’s Place, and KEVS Foundation, would receive grants totaling $16,500.

With the experience under our belt, we adjusted plans and paved the road for the first public overnight event, with the theme ‘Here We Glow Again’, which took place on February 3rd and 4th, 2023, and raised an additional $26,000 for three charity recipients. Meanwhile, we keep holding fundraisers and recruiting volunteers of all ages. As middle and high school students began connecting to our idea, we shifted our focus to calling these overnight events “all-nighters”, as we realized there were further ways to explore how raising money for charity can be fun.

On March 1st and 2nd, 2024, we hosted our third annual all-nighter, titled ‘Tropic Fever’, raised $26,000 again, and have transitioned to a new director of the organization. Now, we’re moving forward! There’s more recruitment to be done, money to raise, but most importantly, youth to empower. We hope you’ll stick around for the future of WMCD Inc. as a volunteer, donor, or follower on any of our social media pages!

Update as of March 2025: Over the past year, we’ve worked with our charity recipients to engage in their events (such as Rachel’s Table’s ‘OutRun Hunger’ 5K) and hosted our 4th annual all-nighter on February 28 and March 1! This all-nighter, themed Musical Midway, broke records for WMCD - we had the most participants ever and raised the most money we have yet! Our 2025 grand total of $33,832 brings our lifetime total to $102,337 raised for local charity.