Donations Pour In For Championship Bound Queens Cheerleaders Following CBS2 Report
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A group of high school cheerleaders have the chance to do something remarkable, but they needed help to make it happen.
As CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported, the best cheerleading squad in Queens is now hoping to become the best in the country.
The girls from the Young Women's Leadership School in Jamaica, Queens are perky, precocious, and personable.
Their skill and excellence have earned them a qualifying spot in the National Cheerleading Championship at Disney World in Orlando in February, but securing funding for the trip was going to be a problem until a report aired on CBS2.
"We need to raise money right away," coach Abi Corbin said.
Corbin said the girls would need at least $10,000 to afford the trip and realize their dream.
"It's something you think about once you become a cheerleader. It's like the ultimate goal, nationals," Leslee Betancourt said.
Since the cheerleading squad is a club and not considered a sport it receives no money from the school or Department of Education, and must finance itself. As a result, money was tight.
The cheerleaders have started a Go Fund Me page in hopes of raising enough money to make the trip. Earlier on Tuesday, they had a little more than $2,800.
Following a 5 p.m. report by CBS2's Rapoport, donations to the girls' Go Fund Me page started pouring in.
By 9 p.m., the page had nearly $15,000 in donations.
For their part, the girls have worked hard to get to this point -- three-hour practices, twice a week.
They have to wait two hours after school is over before they can even get to use the gym, on Tuesday, they practiced at a different school in Flushing.
"This is very important because we came from nothing and we worked really hard to get here," Destiny Martin said.
The girls said they are grateful and hope bring the gold back to Queens.
The club started four years ago, out of the twelve girls on the squad, only two had previous cheerleading experience. The coach who makes it all possible is a volunteer.
