Cheer Photographer Encourages Athletes To Make A Difference

Cheerleaders and dancers are strong, passionate, and talented. They also know a thing or two about giving support. Whether they are cheering on their football team, basketball team, or their own squad, they know the importance of coming to the aid of their community.

That’s why Andrew Dean, a professional photographer for the cheer and dance industry and dedicated philanthropist, has been calling on cheerleaders and dancers everywhere over the past 10 years to help make a difference in the world.

Dean, whose mother is a cancer survivor, is known primarily for his fundraising efforts for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and breast cancer research.

As a member of the cheerleading industry, I feel this is a very important cause because currently one in seven women will be diagnosed in their lifetime. We need to make that number disappear!

Andrew Dean works with Delta Airlines to raise money to fight breast cancer.​

Each year, Dean takes part in the #31DaysOfPINK and interacts with cheerleaders through social media to raise awareness for charities all over the world.

“It’s a month-long breast cancer awareness campaign where gyms across the globe send me their breast cancer awareness shirts,” Dean said. “I wear a different one for each day of the month and share that gym’s information and what organization they are raising money for.” 

On top of working to end breast cancer, Dean has joined with many of his spirited friends to help promote and give back to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Andrew Dean raised over $13,000 for St. Jude with his #AndrewTheElf flight.

Dean, who has also worked as a mascot for multiple organizations, is known for his 24-hour fundraising flights in which he dresses in costume to promote his cause and tries to raise as much money and awareness as possible.

“Two years ago, I bought an Elf on the Shelf costume and turned myself into this #AndrewTheElf character and figured that connecting this character to St. Jude Children’s Hospital could bring a lot of awareness to the foundation and hopefully bring in a lot of money as well,” Dean said. “I decided to turn this into my first 24-hour fundraiser where I would fly around the country on my day off the week before Christmas dressed as #AndrewTheElf.”

What happened throughout the day was incredible. I started my first flight at 6 AM and by the time I landed in Atlanta we had already hit the goal of $1,500!

ATTENTION: be on the look out for #AndrewTheElf he is flying @Delta all day today raising money for @StJude !! 👍🏼🌲❤

— devin (@devindoodlee) December 20, 2016

Dean continued to increase his goal amount all day as donations came flooding in. By 9 PM, all-star gym owners in the cheer world were catching wind of this fundraising campaign, and they started sharing and donating as well!  

In the last few hours of the fundraiser we went from $7,000 in donations to $13,500, and a large chunk of that was thanks to cheerleaders, coaches, and gym owners across the country!

Dean’s passion for philanthropy has only continued to grow. His most recent event was last week.

Dean was a part of the annual Delta Jet Drag, an American Cancer Society fundraiser hosted by Delta Airlines at its headquarters in Atlanta. More than 100 teams of Delta employees each raised $1,500 for a chance to pull a 167,000-pound Boeing 757 aircraft 20 feet in the fastest time.

During Dean’s most recent event, he got to meet superstar Kenny G.​

“Over the past few years there has been a team of Delta’s most frequent flyers called Delta Diamond Medallions who are invited to attend as the only non-employee group,” Dean said. “I was lucky enough to be one of their top fundraisers, so I was invited to be part of this team!”

The cheerleading community can do incredible things when it binds together for a cause. Dean encourages all members of the cheerleading world to find something they are passionate about and try and make a difference. If you or your squad would like to make a difference or get involved with a philanthropy, visit stjude.org/varsity.

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