Eugene ballerina raises thousands to attend Whitman dance lab

EUGENE, Ore. -- 13-year-old Sylvani Starchild-St. Clair was thrilled when she was accepted into a summer dance lab at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.

"When I got accepted and opened the letter, I was like yes! yes! yes!" said Starchild-St. Clair.

However, the dance opportunity comes at a cost of more than $3,000 for tuition and other expenses.

"We don't have that kind of money and we're barely making ends meet as it is," said Fiora Starchild-Wolf, Sylvani's mother.

Starchild-Wolf started a campaign on Indiegogo.com, a site that lets you fundraise for your passions.

"We thought maybe everybody will just donate $5 or $10 and that will get us this $3,000 that we set as our goal," Starchild-Wolf said.

Turns out, some friends and strangers poured in hundreds of dollars a piece to help with Starchild-St. Clair's campaign.

One donation from a stranger in Canada topped $850.

"It feels a little mind boggling," Starchild St. Clair said.

In just six weeks, the ballerina raised more than enough to attend the summer dance lab at Whitman College.

Now her friends are following in her footsteps and starting an Indiegogo campaign to help fund their summer dance intensives as well.

"I saw Sylvani becoming successful and I thought I would give it a chance too," said Mandy Power, an Indiegogo campaign user.

"It's a little bit slow but we're getting there," said Jaya Rowe-Caplan, an Indiegogo campaign user. "We're two-thirds of the way there."

"Now it's their turn," Starchild-St. Clair said. "I've made it and people helped me. So I want to see them get help too."

Starchild St. Clair will head to Whitman college on June 24th for the two week summer dance lab.