Sign up to dance with Thrill the World, Charlotte!

Thrill the World (TTW) started out in 2006 as a “cool idea” by Ines Markeljevic, Creator of Thrill The World, with only 62 dancers in Canada paying tribute to the King of Pop Michael Jackson. The team set the First Guinness World Record for the “Largest Thriller Dance In One Location” and since has exploded into an international dance phenomenon.

In 2007, TTW went world wide, 1,722 dancers in 52 cities on 5 continents. Setting two world records for Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance with the World Records Academy & the Record Holders Republic. Each year Thrill the World has progressively broken the previous year's record. In October of 2009, 22,596 people from 32 different countries SIMULTANEOUSLY did the "Thriller" dance.

This year for the 2011 event, Making It A Better Place will be hosting the "Arise" Family Friendly Festival. Fun for everyone! This event will raise funds for S.A.F.E. Animal Haven. We will also be collecting food for the Matthews Help Center to help fight hunger.Visit www.thrilltheworldcharlotte.com for details.

Box Tops for Education

We all shop for groceries, sometimes two or three times a week –- or more. Now turn those shopping trips into easy cash for your school, and encourage friends to do the same! Just look for the Box Tops logo on hundreds of products like Cheerios®, Hamburger Helper® and Kleenex®, in almost every aisle of the store. All you need to do is clip and send them to your school’s Box Tops coordinator or if you don't have a child in school, you can send them to Making It A Better Place and we will make sure they go to a Charlotte school participating in the Box Tops program. Each box top is worth 10¢ for the school.

Labels for Education

For more than 30 years, Labels for Education has been awarding free educational equipment to schools in exchange for proofs of purchase from the Campbell family of brands. It’s a fun, easy program where students, families and members of the community work together for a common goal. Today, over 80,000 schools and organizations are registered with Labels for Education, benefiting more than 42 million students. Over the years, they have been able to provide more than $100 million in merchandise to America's schools!

Harris Teeter’s Together In Education

This program is a fund raising program for schools (public or private- preschool through 12th grade) in our communities. When customers purchase select Harris Teeter Brand products using their VIC card, Harris Teeter contributes a percentage of those purchase dollars to the schools of their choice. Schools use the money as they see fit on anything from basic supplies to band equipment or computers.

BI-LO's Boosters Plus

BI-LO offers the boostersplus® Program which is a simple way to donate to the school, church or non-profit organization of your choice. Every time you shop at BI-LO and use your BONUSCARD®, BI-LO will help support your designated organization by donating 1% of your total purchase.

Food Lion's MVP Rewards

Enroll by linking your MVP Card(s) to your school and/or charity of choice and then every time you shop and present your MVP Card, the amount you spend on qualified items is automatically credited to the local school and or charity.

Ronald McDonald House Pop Tabs

Collecting pop tabs (from the top of your aluminum cans) is a great way to teach kids about philanthropy and the importance of recycling, and raise funds to help children and their families at the same time. The pop tabs are pure high-quality aluminum, unlike the cans, which consist of aluminum and other alloys. Once collected, the Ronald McDonald House Chapter will take the pop tabs to a local recycling center where they are weighed to determine their value. The recycling center then sends the Ronald McDonald House Chapter a check for the total value.

Collect pop tabs to drop off at one of our Making It A Better Place drop off locations, or contact your local House about getting a collection container that you can be responsible for filling through one of your own groups. Charlotte's House that accepts the pop tabs is located at 1200 East Moorehead St., Suite 260. Please call first to make sure someone is there.    

Locks of Love

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. They meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics.