Sweet sixteen.

There’s no other way to describe the 16th performance of the Dancing with the Stars of Mentoring held Friday at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet.

Nine celebrity dancers and their professional partners from The Dancing Feeling in Warwick, that have supported this fundraiser from the beginning, performed to a full house that got into the swing of the evening cheering on their favorite couples. “Couples” isn’t entirely accurate as Matt Kasenga, Director of Manufacturing for Amgen and Debbie O’Donnell, who has taught ballroom dancing at The Dancing Feeling for years, brought along a ringer. She made her appearance halfway through Matt and Debbie’s routine.

Matt’s eight year old daughter, Lucie, wearing sparking shoes, stepped onto the floor. At first there was a stunned silence — had this girl been carried away by the performance? Then it was obvious this was planned as Debbie stepped into the shadows and father and daughter danced, concluding with a lift where Lucie twirled above her father’s head.

Amgen fans went wild. The mood was contagious and people were standing and cheering.

Matt, Lucie and Debbie came away with the People’s Choice gold trophy that in reality had more to do with Matt’s ability to raise money than the quality of their performance. Dancing with the Stars of Mentoring is as much about entertainment and skill as it is about sustaining a program that for decades has paired adult volunteers for an hour a week with elementary and secondary school students who could get a boost by having a role model, or quite simply somebody willing to be a friend and spend the time with them.

The People’s Choice is awarded to the couple that raises the most in one dollar votes. Between what they raised prior to the performance and in glass jar donations following the performance the trio netted $13,893. A close second with $12,639 in contributions was Terri Brophy of Greenwood Credit Union, who was paired with Noah Carsten. This was a first that a Greenwood employee — Terri is the Vice President of Human Resources for the credit union — was a dancer.

After the judges recessed, they returned to present the most entertaining award to Andrew Hogan, agent and owner of NextHome Ocean State Realty and his partner Rachael Mooney. Andrew opened his performance seated reading a newspaper, but quickly cast it aside to perform a seductive dance with Rachel. The judges’ award based on technique, difficulty of the dance and execution went to Alicia Coppa, an employee of Amica Mutual Insurance a longtime Mentor RI supporter and Anthony Scalzi. As the judges noted in their critique, the pair never stopped smiling, sending the message they were not only confident in their performance, but having fun.

Going into the event, more than $66,000 was raised for the mentor program through sponsorships. That evening, Mentor RI President and CEO Jo-Ann Schofield estimated the evening had raised about $130,000 after expenses.