Here's a rather novel concept for a nonprofit: Dance party. Not to close a well-established ballroom fundraiser, but a dance party, beginning-middle-end. A pop-up club -- for a cause.
"I really want women to be able to relax and just enjoy their girlfriends," says Tifany Hamlin, "and enjoy all of us as women together and not be hung up on what we look like and who we're trying to impress. Just come and dance your rear-end off."
Here comes Hamlin's first Party with a Heart, a 21-and-up Girls' Night Out Dance Party on April 16 at the Argenta Community Theater in North Little Rock. The nonprofit's mission is increasing "awareness, education and support for causes within the community by bringing women together at fun, simple and unique events," but ladies should hold the whole weight of a mission like that with the slightest grip.
Let loose and laugh. Hit the dance floor and shake, rattle and roll. Sing out loud.
The event offers dancing with music by DJ Kat Wms -- along with hors d'oeuvres and drinks -- and that's about it. No silent auction, no live auction, no sit-down dinner and very little program.
Although Arkansas is not Hamlin's home -- she's a San Antonio native -- she has lived in central Arkansas for about a dozen years since 2000.
The 37-year-old attended Pulaski Technical College before transferring to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and getting a bachelor's in speech communication. She left central Arkansas for a while to receive a master of business administration degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
She lives in the Windsor Valley neighborhood of North Little Rock with her husband, lawyer Harry Hamlin.
She's chief executive officer of eZdiscovery Solutions, a company she started in early 2014 that provides inexpensive electronic discovery requests for lawyers. But Tifany Hamlin considers herself "a builder."
"Not with my hands, but I build ideas into -- hopefully -- viable businesses," she says. "Or if there's an idea that I really feel strongly about ... I build it."
And what Hamlin is most passionate about is "building a better community; a more inclusive community."
She already serves on the boards of Arkansas Local Food Network and Our House and supports several local charities. But a couple of years ago she and her husband sat down to consider some questions. What were they passionate about? What was their giving philosophy going to be?
And a couple of answers bubbled to the top. "No. 1, for us, is [the charity or nonprofit] has to be based in education because education is the only way to make a change in your life -- to move to a better place," she says. "It doesn't have to be formal education. It's just when you know better you do better. And the money that we raise we want to stay here to help Arkansans and not go to a big, national organization. We want it to stay here."
With that in mind, she decided last summer was the time to turn an idea that "has kind of been nagging at me for two or three years" into Party With a Heart.
The concept came to Hamlin after attending a friend's Christmas party for women only. One of the rooms in the house was a designated dance party room. Hamlin knows women love to dance but once they "get to a certain age and [are] not willing to go hang out at the clubs," finding a place to dance becomes tricky.
So she started thinking about throwing a dance party for her friends. She thought, "if you're going to do that, why not do it and raise money for somebody?"
By the end of July, Party With a Heart had its nonprofit status with the goal of partnering with a smaller nonprofit each year and raising the profile -- and financial bottom line -- of that charity. For 2016, Party With a Heart is working for Partners Against Trafficking Humans, an organization that advocates on behalf of sex trafficking survivors in Arkansas.
Hamlin also recruited two friends for Party With a Heart. Lisa Guerra serves as treasurer and secretary and Yvette Parker is in charge of the nonprofit's fundraising and promotion.
The trio used the second half of 2015 to create a website, design a logo (by North Little Rock High School senior Davis Bentley), select a charity to support, and plan and promote their first events, including the dance party and a Mamma Mia! Sing-a-Long set for Sept. 10.
Beyond women-only events, Party With a Heart is holding smaller events such as a screening of the documentary In Plain Sight at The Joint in North Little Rock on May 2. The documentary features Partners Against Trafficking Humans (PATH) executive director Louise Allison.
Later this year, Party With a Heart also will launch an online application process for 2017 nonprofits.
But first comes dancing with the Girls' Night Out Dance Party. There will be a five- or 10-minute break to thank partners, sponsors and introduce Party With a Heart and PATH, Hamlin says.
And then dancing. Lots and lots of dancing.
"We literally want [women] to come have a good time for a good cause," Hamlin says. "It's going to be fun and all over the board."
Party With a Heart's Girls' Night Out Dance Party is 8 -11 p.m. April 16 at the Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock. Tickets are $75. Must be 21 or older. Visit partywithaheart.org or call (501) 425-1988. For more information about Partners Against Trafficking Humans, visit pathsaves.org.
High Profile on 03/20/2016