XaLights -

Our Vision:
XaLights believes in the compassion, enthusiasm, and creativity inherent in all youth.

Our Mission:
XaLights' mission is to honor the life of Xavier Atienza by empowering youth to brighten the lives of other youth through light, love and dance. Xavier's passion for and dedication to the art of dance is honored through the giving of dance scholarships to students whose enthusiasm for and devotion to dance bring joy and inspiration to those around them. The XaLights Service Project for Youth embodies the care, compassion and desire to help that Xavier exhibited to all who knew him, and brings it, in personalized night lights, to those in need of comfort.

The XaLights Board of Directors:
Karyn Worthing, President
Lori Meyer, Vice President & Scholarship Manager
Michelle Worthing, Treasurer
Joy Dilillo Harrington, Secretary
Ann Gelillo, Social Media
Olivia Wein, Member
Pamela Bjerknes, Member
Xochi, Youth Ambassador
Claire, Youth Ambassador
Lucy, Youth Ambassador

Creating and donating XaLights to a pediatric hospital in your area is a wonderful service project designed for kids to do for other kids. A XaLight is a personalized battery powered plastic mason jar night light that can be given to a child who is in the hospital or a medical treatment center. This colorful night light brings a bit of brightness into a clinical atmosphere. Messages from loved ones are written on the jar, bringing love from home into a place that can be particularly scary for kids. XaLights are very simple to make, which makes them an ideal service or volunteer project for kids to do, that directly helps other kids. It is not only something one child can do for their sibling or friend, but a project for youth groups, scouts troops and other youth organizations. Kids often feel there really isn't much they can do when a friend or loved one is hospitalized. By making XaLights, kids can do something, and know they are bringing a measure of love and comfort to kids who must be away from home and family.

"...from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the night lights. Our son turns his on each night before bed and talks to it. He is able to talk to his baby brother and share stories from his day at preschool. This light has given him the opportunity to feel connected to his baby brother and to open up and ask us questions about the hospital..." from a family receiving care at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC.

"Dance is my life. Dance is my peace."
Xavier Atienza, age 8.

The Xavier Atienza Dance Scholarship was established in 2014, in memory of Xavier Atienza, whose passion for dance was only bested by his passion for eating donuts and bacon! His enthusiasm, talent, charm and dedication was inspirational to those who danced with him and those who watched him on stage. The Xavier Atienza Dance Scholarship is awarded to dance students whose love for the art of dance, like Xavier's, brings joy and inspiration to those around them. In receiving this scholarship, these students are recognized for their continuous hard work, excellent attendance, overall positive and encouraging attitude, and for the respect with which they treat their teachers and fellow students. The awardees fully express the deep meaning dance holds in their lives and they bring the peace and joy they find in dance to the students, teachers and audiences they touch through their dancing.

At present this scholarship is available for students between the ages of 8 and 18, who are enrolled in a dance program in the greater Metro DC area.

"Dance brings me joy because it lets me totally lose myself and yet, at the same time, find exactly who I am. Receiving this scholarship has made me more aware of the power I have to inspire others every day through my hard work." Katya, age 16, MSD student & 2017 awardee.

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