Many in Whitehorse were dancing for a good cause over the weekend, to '80s hits and Latin tunes.

The fund-raisers were held in support of 19-year-old Aidan Love.

After a serious ski accident in February, Love was left paralyzed from the chest down.

Al Foster, a local CBC reporter, and a team of volunteers organized the '80s for Aidan dance held at the curling rink at the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre.

Foster said today they raised $12,000 for the Love family, $2,000 more than their original goal of $10,000.

"It went tremendously,” he said.

Love played on the same volleyball team as Foster's son.

When he heard about Love's mishap, Foster said his first thought was what could he do.

An '80s fund-raiser seemed like best idea.

He's thrown a number of '80s dance night fund-raisers, some to raise money for programs his kids were involved with, one to support a friend diagnosed with leukemia.

Foster said he's been hosting '80s dance nights since he lived in Winnipeg.

"That was when I was a young man myself,” he said. "It's an era that I know the music pretty well, and the look and the vibe.”

"It's just going back and reliving your youth a little bit, which is pretty easy to do.”

The music seems pretty timeless, he said, noting that plenty of 20-somethings at the event were singing along to songs like Fight For Your Right by the Beastie Boys.

The whole Love family was at the event, including the injured youth, his mom, Bonnie, said today.

"We had a wonderful time,” she said. "It was a fabulous event.”

Her son thinks it was "a pretty big part of his healing to be back in the community and seeing his friends,” she said.

Another event, held by Salsa Yukon over the weekend, raised more than $400 for the family.

Lucy Desaulniers, a Latin dance teacher, said she and her husband, Michel Morris, hold monthly fiestas for their students and the public.

When she heard that the '80s night fund-raiser would be held the same night, she decided to take donations at her event on Saturday as well, so people could donate no matter where they were.

They had about 50 people at the event, she said.

Bonnie said she is "really humbled, honoured and blown away” by all the community support.

The generosity is overwhelming, she said, adding that she wants to give "a great big humble thank you to everyone” for their support.

"I can't say it enough,” she said.

Her son will be returning to the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver for about another month to complete his rehabilitation.

He will be back in the Yukon for the summer and looking for work, said Bonnie.

She said he hopes to return this fall to the University of Victoria, where he was studying before the accident, but it will depend on how his rehabilitation goes and if housing can be sorted out.

But all in all, Bonnie said, "He's doing great.”