On Oct. 7 at the PCM vs. Chariton home football game, PCM Dance Team held a food and hygiene drive for the PCM Food Pantry. The team partnered with the Iowa State Dance and Drill Association as a part of their initiative, ISDTA Cares. Established in 2020, ISDTA Cares helps dance teams throughout the state of Iowa give back to their local communities.
The project was announced through social media a few weeks prior to the game and was advertised to PCM High School students and community heavily during the week of the game. Members of the team made homemade posters to hang in the school hallways and shared social media posts throughout the week. That Friday dancers were at both JV and Varsity football games collecting boxed and canned food, personal hygiene items and cash donations at a table set up by the ticket booth.
“The part that was the most fun would be just doing something good for the community with a team I love. It felt really good to help out in any way that we could,” junior Avery Houser said.
During the project, the PCM Dance Team got the opportunity to participate in an ISDTA Instagram story takeover. The team was then able to spotlight the project, introduce the team and post fun dance content on the official ISDTA Instagram Account Story feature. With over 5,000 followers, the official account is able to reach a wide audience of other Iowa high school and college dance teams, supporters, families, and coaches.
At the end of the night, the team was able to collect one full box of hygiene products, two boxes of canned and boxed food goods, and 181 dollars in cash donations.
“I personally enjoyed doing it very much. I enjoy giving back to my community as much as I can. I think we should incorporate more things like this into our team schedule,” said senior Isabelle Lorton.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Each poster was hung around PCM High School prior to the event. Poster made by Lily Ladehoff.