Price likes giving back to the community.

A woman smiling next to a tree - Eyebrow

Rachel Price’s first foray into volunteerism came with teaching ballroom dancing to school age children.

“I went into it thinking ‘I can’t do this,’ and in the end came to realize that it was the most rewarding thing I had ever done,” she said. It was a tiny leap of faith from there, Rachel said, to volunteering as the 2013 Big Kahuna.

Rather than competing side-by-side, Rachel and Johnnie Darby (featured in last week’s Weekly) are running together – as opposed to against each other  to see how much they can raise for the Marathon Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) club. Rachel has been a member for two years.

“I’m a newbie in the club. And I’m just realizing how many worthy causes they support and how they give back to the community,” she said. “The BPW scholarships are very important. I won a scholarship for college supplies my freshman year of college and I know what a big difference it can make.”

Rachel and her mother, Janice, own the White Sands Inn on Grassy Key. She’s been living in the Middle Keys for 14 years, although she only intended to stay for one.

“After college, I told my mother I would help her for a year. I ended up loving the Florida Keys and I haven’t left,” she said.

In addition to working full time, raising money for BPW, and teaching ballroom dancing, Rachel also teaches ballet to adults twice a week at Body Language studios in Marathon. In her downtime, she pursues her art hobbies and rides horseback.

Rachel is raising Kahuna funds through the sale of raffle tickets. She has devised two packages. The first is a romantic weekend for a couple that includes a two-night stay at the White Sands Inn, a sunset cruise, dinner and a guided kayak tour. The other is a party package that includes a basket of liquor, the rental of a portable bar and cocktail tables, a bartender and a DJ for a two-hour party. Tickets are on sale for $5 each or $20 for six tickets. They are available around town at various businesses and also by call 305-731-6368.

Sara Matthis thinks community journalism is important, but not serious; likes weird and wonderful children (she has two); and occasionally tortures herself with sprint-distance triathlons, but only if she has a good chance of beating her sister.