Julianne McGregor, 27, is planning to hula hoop her way to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for her best friend with cancer. The London, England, resident, will be hooping along the route up Africa's highest mountain and hopes to spin a few circles at the top. McGregor is raising money for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) to support her American friend Megan Houchins, who has thyroid cancer. McGregor said: "I'm doing this for my close friend Megan, who is currently fighting cancer, and all other cancer sufferers out there. I enjoy hula hooping anyway, but I thought that I would do it on Mount Kilimanjaro because it would put a smile on Megs' face. If not, the pictures of me dirty, sweaty but resolutely hula hooping surely will." Full story: Metro UK, Belfast Telegraph

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Lu Ann Cahn is a TV news investigative reporter, wife, mom and long time breast cancer survivor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She set out to complete a "first" every day for an entire year, a first being something she's never done before and she's sharing her personal and public journey. And yes, it was only a matter of time until she found herself inside a hula hoop - Day 31 actually - and she also found herself in a class taught by Jennifer Rice of Tailspin Hoops. What did Cahn think? "I loved this. I bought one of her hula hoops. I might take it to the office. If I'm stressed, I might just take it out and do a hula hoop break. I would think it would put any issues in perspective." We think so too Lu Ann. Check out her post with video: One Year of Firsts

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While we've known that Academy Award winning actress Marisa Tomei is a hula hooper, especially after her spin on Ellen DeGeneres, Tomei revealed to MTV News at the Sundance Film Festival that she's gotten into the hula-hoop business - and she's determined to take it all the way. "I kind of got into this whole hula-hoop craze," she confessed. "That happened during the time of the 'The Wrestler' so now I find myself doing hula-hoop things I didn't really think I was going to be doing!" Full story with video: MTV

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Etsy's Alberta Street Team highlights Farren Square of Edmonton, Alberta, who has gotten a lot out of hooping. She explains, "Hooping taught me to let go of my inhibitions, that it is ok to make mistakes - even in front of other people! Hooping taught me the perseverance to pick my hoop up off the floor again, and again, and again. Hooping taught me to let go of my expectations and gave me the understanding that things travel in their own path, human or hoop. Hooping taught me to have confidence in myself, that I can do what I put my mind to, and to be grateful for the gift that is a body that works and moves. Most of all, hooping gave me a place to go when I need a smile, a space to meditate and lose myself to the flow of dancing, a place to find serenity." Etsy Alberta Street Team

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