We are a group of High School Volunteers that teach dance and movement to Children and Adults with Special Needs. 

Stay at home mother of four, Erika Reynolds started the Non-profit in 2019 because her daughter Katherine wanted to teach dance to kids with Special Needs like her Little Brother Christopher. Katherine had been a buddy for Adaptive Gymnastics at the local YMCA and both kids loved it. But During Covid, the program shut down and never re-opened. So, Katherine and her mother rented a dance studio in a local town building and started a dance program. Now, 6 years later, the program is still run by one stay at home mom and about 20 high school volunteers who to come each week to teach and dance as buddies.

The goals of the classes are Smiles & High Fives. Since our main goal is to make Eye Contact and Have Fun, we want to keep the costs minimal for parents. We only charge $20.00 per class and don't pressure parent's to pay up when their child is having a rough day. Lets just say that we don't break even, each week, we don't even come close. Our costs include dance studio rent, costumes, props, music,  and recently Erika hired The most amazing professional HipHop teacher from NYC - Rick Long. Rick has a stage presence that glues the classes together, it's just better when Rick is there. Each year we need to raise about $6,000 to stay operational.

Erika Reynolds, Founder and Director is still plugging way at the job as a volunteer herself and is always on the hunt for support, and help running her non-profit. This year, is already off to a fantastic start. The FlowerPetals Website received many new young volunteers who are super excited to get involved with fundraising and marketing. Even though we live in Connecticut, they said that they would love to meet at the park & ride, jump into the car at 6:00 AM and road trip to Natick to participate in the Doug Flutie Run. They are truly excited to get this Fundraiser going and have a memorable road trip experience for a great cause.