Richard Caple didn’t set out to become a line-dance instructor. When the opportunity first came up at Club 17 in Petersburg, Virginia, he turned it down. The class happened anyway, and so did something he never planned: a tight-knit group of dancers, most of them members of Mount Olivet Baptist Church, who now look out for each other well beyond the dance floor.
The group raises money for student scholarships through fashion shows, supports the American Cancer Society, and checks in on members who are sick or shut in. When one member’s house was condemned, the class raised $500 in a single evening to help. Caple says the joy comes from watching his students share health improvements and personal testimonies, proof that the class is doing more than teaching steps.
All of this happens around Caple’s full-time job as a medical transport driver for seniors. He spends his workdays getting older adults to appointments and his evenings dancing with them. “Them seniors, they got my heart,” he says, “and they know it too.”
Do you have a group in your life that turned into something bigger than you expected? Tell us about it in the comments.
