More Than a Zumba Class: A Decade of Giving Back in Tyrone

On a typical Monday or Wednesday evening at the Tyrone Recreation Center, the music starts, the room fills with energy, and people begin to move.

For Lisa, that familiar scene represents much more than a Zumba class.

It represents a community that has supported her for more than a decade—and a community she is determined to give back to.

In 2026, Lisa celebrated 10 years of teaching Zumba at the Tyrone Recreation Center. A licensed Zumba instructor since 2012, she has spent years helping people in Tyrone and the surrounding area stay active, have fun and, perhaps most importantly, feel connected.

“Zumba has given me so much,” Lisa says. “This is my way of giving back to the community that has supported me so faithfully.”

That philosophy comes to life every Labor Day, when Lisa turns her love of Zumba into an opportunity to help others.

For years, she has brought together fellow Zumba instructors, local businesses and the Town of Tyrone Recreation Department for an annual fundraiser benefiting Royal Animal Refuge.  Lisa has been helping raise money for the organization since 2018, and this year’s event carries an added significance as Royal Animal Refuge celebrates nine years of serving the community.

What makes the fundraiser special is that Lisa doesn’t do it alone.

Instructors donate their time and talents. Local businesses contribute door prizes. The Town of Tyrone Recreation Department provides the space. Participants purchase tickets and show up ready to dance.

Together, those contributions make it possible for the money raised to go directly to Royal Animal Refuge.

“Great things happen when we work together,” Lisa says.

And that belief is really the heart of what she does.

Lisa has built her Zumba classes around more than fitness. They are places where people come together, friendships develop and participants can enjoy being active without feeling like exercise has to be a chore. Her Labor Day fundraiser takes that same sense of community and gives it a purpose beyond the dance floor.

For Lisa, supporting Royal Animal Refuge is particularly meaningful.

Founded by Rebecca Tate, Royal Animal Refuge has spent the past nine years helping animals in need. In reflecting on the organization’s anniversary, Tate shared that rescue work has taught her about both the heartbreaking and hopeful sides of humanity.

She has seen animals neglected and abandoned, but she has also seen strangers drive hours to help an animal they’ve never met, fosters rearrange their lives to make room for one more, volunteers show up when they’re exhausted and donors give because they believe every life matters.

That spirit of people helping people—and animals—is exactly what Lisa’s fundraiser represents.  It is a reminder that making a difference doesn’t always require doing something extraordinary. Sometimes it starts with simply sharing what you have.

Lisa has Zumba.

Local instructors have their time.

Businesses have products and services they can donate.

The Tyrone Recreation Department has a space where the community can gather.

And participants have a willingness to show up and help.

Individually, each contribution may seem small. Together, they create something much bigger.

After 10 years of teaching in Tyrone, Lisa has become deeply invested in the community she serves. Her Labor Day fundraiser is one expression of that commitment, but it is also part of a larger belief that community is built by people who are willing to participate, contribute and support one another.

For Lisa, giving back isn’t something she does because she has to.

It’s something she does because she wants to.

“I’m grateful for the people who continue to support my classes and the work I do,” she says. “I want to use what I have to give something back.”

As the music begins and another Zumba class gets underway, the room may look like a group of people simply exercising together.

But after a decade in Tyrone, Lisa knows it’s something more. 

It is connection.

It is friendship.

It is community.

That same spirit of community is at the heart of Lisa’s fundraiser. Every Labor Day, it becomes an opportunity to turn that community into action for a cause that matters.