Harcourts Dancing for Hospice raises $150K

Harcourts Dancing for Hospice sold out charity event was an evening of glitz and glamour, and raised $150,000 to support the Rotorua Community Hospice. 

What do you get when you take 20 local personalities that have virtually no dance experience, put them through a rigorous 15-week training programme and put them in front of full house of over 2,000 people?

You get the highlight of the Rotorua social calendar, Harcourts Dancing for Hospice, formerly Harcourts Dancing with the Stars. The charity event has been going strong for four years thanks to the ongoing support of Harcourts Rotorua and last year over $140,000 was raised for Rotorua Hospice.

This year the event sold out for the first time ever and a whopping $150,000 was raised to ensure Rotorua Community Hospice can continue to help people with life limiting illnesses experience as much as they possibly can in life.

“We’re over the moon that the $150,000 target was reached and that the event was such a huge success again this year,” said Erin Kingston, Director of Harcourts Rotorua. “It’s a real privilege to be able to contribute to an organisation that plays such a vital role in our community.”

It was an evening full of glitz and glamour, culminating in the announcement of the winning couple of Kristina Crouch and Kereti Rautangata (pictured). The People’s Choice award went to Polly Delfim and Rawiri Bhana.

Four celebrity judges scored each couple to determine the two finalists and eventually the overall winner. There were also live and silent auctions, with Harcourts Rotorua donating a commission on the sale of a house as an auction item.

“The team at Harcourts Rotorua do an outstanding job of supporting Rotorua Hospice through this event each year,” said Harcourt New Zealand Managing Director, Bryan Thomson. “Everyone knows someone who has needed the services of Hospice, which is why our teams around the country contribute so generously to Hospice NZ through the Harcourts Foundation.”