Exclusive: Cheer Team Raises Funds For Championship Trip Following CBS2 Report
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- What a difference a day makes for the Young Women's Leadership School cheerleading squad from Jamaica, Queens -- the best cheerleading squad in the borough.
Just yesterday it appeared their chances of competing at the national cheerleading championships at Disney World in Orlando in February were in jeopardy.
The uncertainty wasn't a matter of skill or whether or not they were qualified -- they were already invited to the tournament.
The team simply didn't have the money to make the trip.
"We needed $10,000 to make sure that we could go," head coach Abi Corbin told CBS2's Scott Rapoport. "We didn't have it."
As we reported yesterday, the team started a Go Fund Me page -- asking for your help to finance the trip. By the time we aired the story, they had only raised about $2,800 dollars.
After our story aired -- about 12 minutes after, to be exact -- something remarkable happened.
Contributions on their Go Fund Me page shot up like a rocket, putting them over the top. The total now stands at nearly $15,000 -- more than enough and then some to pay for the trip and let the girls go for the gold.
"I didn't believe it at first," cheerleader Leslee Betancourt said.
Now these 12 ladies will have the chance to go as far as their abilities will take them, unencumbered by financial restrictions.
"I'm just happy," an emotional team member Destiny Martin said.
"Your story allowed more people to hear our need and more people took the opportunity to give," said Corbin.
A real dream come true.