Dancing For Change: Ashley Green Supports Young Mothers In Need

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- We're down to just a few weeks before the community dancers take the stage in this year's Women's Fund Presents Dancing With Our Stars event.

Ashley Green is the owner of Green Thumb Etc in downtown St. Cloud.

She says she's waited for a few years to get the call to be a part of the program.

I had hoped that an invite would be coming eventually.  I knew it was something that I always wanted to do.  And, I had a charity in the back of my mind that's near and dear to my heart.

Green's charity that she is raising money for is Open Hearts Home. They serve pregnant and teenage mothers who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.

If you're a homeless teen mom, and you have nowhere to go, your options are limited.  Shuffling them through corrections didn't seem like a good fit, so she chose to open up her home.

Green says the charity speaks to her because she was also a teenage mother.

Fundraisers planned

She has three fundraisers coming up next weekend.

On Saturday, May 31st, she's hosting a "Whiskey and Cigar" night from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. for $50.

On Sunday, June 1st, she has a Pickleball Tournament at the St. Cloud Country Club in partnership with another community dancer, Abbey Graves.

On Monday, June 2nd, at White Peony in St. Joseph, she will have a "Roses and Rose" night.

Green's "professional" dance partner is her boyfriend Jon Skuza, who is not a trained dancer either. They have Melinda Tamm choreographing their routine, which Green describes as modern dance.

Green says the experience is living up to what she hoped it would be.

It is beyond what I thought it was going to be. I know it was going to be work, I knew it was going to be fun.

The top dancer will earn an extra $15,000 for their charity, second place gets $10,000, and third place $5,000.

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The Dancing With Our Stars live event is on Monday, June 9th, at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph. Tickets for the general public are on sale now.

On the News @ Noon Show on WJON, we've been featuring each of this year's community dancers and their chosen charities.

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