DR. FRANCINE EDWARDS, MRS DELAWARE UNITED STATES 2012: Fashion & Food!

Last night, I had the pleasure of participating in “Catwalk for a Cause” to benefit the National Eating Disorders Association. This event was hosted by Nicole Ortiz, Miss Delaware International 2012 and was part of the first NEDAawareness week in the state of Delaware! The event showcased collections from Delaware boutiques and designers and was hosted at a great venue, the Film Brothers Studio in Wilmington, DE. I was very excited to be part of this event, as eating disorder awareness is an issue that is close to my heart. I worked for several years as a counselor at the Renfrew Center in Philadelphia, which is a residential facility for women struggling with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. I saw firsthand how detrimental this disease can be to the individual and how devastating it could be for the families, and it was heartbreaking. I also promoted eating disorder awareness as my platform when I competed for Miss Delaware, and I commend Nicole for making such a big step forward in our community.

The fashion show models included pageant titleholders and eating disorder survivors. It was fun to catch up with everyone and meet new people. I wore two outfits for the show. The first outfit I wore was by Shopmamie. It was a cute blush pink cocktail dress with pleats and they accessorized it with gold stud earrings and a long gold necklace. The second outfit I wore was by NOSO Boutique, which is also a sponsor for the Mrs. Delaware United States Pageant. It was a long gold gown with a glam scarf, accessorized with a gold clutch and bracelet. I loved both of my outfits! All of us walked the red carpet runway and “worked it”! It was a lot of fun and for a great cause!

My 1st outfit by Shopmamie

My 2nd outfit by Noso Boutique

With Anne from Noso Boutique

With Nicole Ortiz-Miss DE International 2012

Today, I participated in the National Pancake Day by IHOP, to benefit Children’s Miracle Network. All IHOP restaurants offered a free short stack of pancakes for all of their customers and encouraged everyone to donate to this non-profit organization. Joining me were Tierra Fair, Miss Brandywine 2012 and Sammi Ponsell, Miss Brandywine Outstanding Teen 2012. I was excited to coordinate this appearance for myself and our two titleholders for the Miss Brandywine Scholarship Organization (which I am a board member of). We had a great time at the IHOP in Wilmington and everyone was so friendly! Today also was an in-service day for elementary schools in the area, which gave us a great opportunity to chat with some cool kids. What better way to celebrate a day off from school than with a free stack of pancakes? It was also nice to brighten the day of a group of school bus drivers who had stopped in between their drive time. We also had an opportunity to meet a representative from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who thanked us for being there. A huge thank you to the IHOP in the Fairfax Shopping Center in Wilmington, DE for allowing us to be part of your day and for being so hospitable and friendly; we had a blast and hope we helped with the contributions to Children’s Miracle Network.