About Us

On the 4th of July, 2014 a tragic boating accident on Biscayne Bay claimed the lives of four young adults. It was a last-minute decision for Kelsie Karpiak to join her friends for a boat ride and fireworks on that moonless night. The next day, she had plans to return to Jacksonville, where she was relocating the Miami-based American Dance Alliance. As the company's new President, her goal was to create educational dance camps, competitions, and scholarship programs in the North Florida area.

After the cacophony of fireworks ended, Kelsie and her friends stayed behind on their boat while a rush of other boats made their way back to the marina. It was then that the boat that she was on was involved in a multi-boat collision that left many people injured and Kelsie and three others dead from their injuries. The shock from the worst boating accident in Miami's history rippled through the community.  Kelsie’s family rushed to the Dinner Key Marina after their son Kevin, Kelsie’s twin brother, called with the news of a boat crash and that his sister was on one of the boats. That night, a family's worst nightmare became a reality as they learned they had lost their only daughter. The painful news was hard to understand and even harder to explain.  Kelsie’s family and friends, the Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, and Coral Gables communities, as well as those she touched with her kindness in the Miami and the First Coast areas, were grieving for her and the others lost, injured, and affected by this accident.

After much prayer, grief, and lament, the Karpiak family and a community of supporters rallied around the idea that they could and should continue Kelsie’s work of uplifting and supporting young dancers. The Kelsie Karpiak Memorial Scholarship Foundation was created in 2018 to fulfill Kelsie’s dream to create a scholarship program for senior high school dancers. In the first year, the Foundation hosted a dance showcase event to bring together Kelsie's friends, family, and the community that she loved to raise funds for the scholarship.  The Showcase 4 Scholarships is now hosted annually and the Foundation has awarded over $30,000 in scholarships in Kelsie's name.