In a recent effort before the holiday break, the Battlefield Dance Team donated food and canned items to the Haymarket Food Pantry. It was a competition amongst the four classes to see who could get the most bank for their “buck”(pun credited to Mrs. Golden). All of the dancers donated five dollars to Mrs. Golden, the dance coach, prior to the competition. Then, the four teams; Team Dasher, Team Cupid, Team Prancer, and Team Vixen, went “shopping” while wearing very festive santa hats.They had 45 minutes to buy all that they could with their designated budget of $43 and could go to whatever store they were assigned to. They had a list of items they could buy that the food pantry needed.The girls were advised to use coupons and sales to help save some money and to get as much food as possible. Mrs Golden says, “Every year, it is eye opening to the girls when they go budget shopping.” One great lesson that comes from this experience is learning to manage money and to not just splurge on everything.

At 3:00pm, the four groups split off to go to the grocery store of their choice, driven by parents and upperclassmen who volunteered to help out. The freshmen went to Food Lion, the sophomores went to Harris Teeter, the juniors went to went to Giant in Dominion Valley, and the seniors went to to Walmart. In total, the dance team collected a whopping 240 items! The freshmen, Team Prancer, and sophomores, Team Cupid, won the contest, collecting 72 items a piece. Seniors, Team Vixen, came in third with 53 items. In last place, but still collecting a lot of items, was the junior class, Team Dasher, with 42 items. Then, at 4:15, all of the Reign-deer departed their grocery stores to go back to the Haymarket Food Pantry, who opened only to accommodate the dancers and their food. They were all given a tour because this is a brand new location for the pantry. Next, the dance team took pictures since this is their last “Pause for the Cause” of the year. Finally, dancers were picked up around 5:00pm to go separate ways. Cara Trettel, a sophomore on the dance team, says, “My favorite part of this experience was the team bonding over wanting to help those in need.” Overall, this was a great experience for all of the Dance Team to spread the cheer and generosity that is special to the holidays.