*Pageant Pants* The 2009 Pageant Pants Drive kicks off Feb. 22nd and goes through the entire month of April! Click the picture to below to learn all about Pageant Pants Click the picture to below to view the Pageant Pants poster Pageant Pants, an initiative of H.O.P.E., Inc celebrates healthy body image and positive self-esteem through an annual jeans drive. Working in partnership with the National Eating Disorders Association and their “Be Comfortable in Your Genes” campaign, this statewide jean collection is designed to encourage healthy lifestyles and realistic body image and acceptance. Encouraging people to clean out their closets and donate jeans that no longer fit or ones they do not feel comfortable in, Allison delivers these back to community agencies with a powerful message of self-acceptance and being true to yourself. Her outreach and educational efforts help raise awareness, provide resources and most importantly, create an important dialogue by actively participating in this community service effort. Allison has led this jeans drive for the past three years and in 2006, as Miss Florida, the name “Pageant Pants” was coined. Encouraging the contestants vying for the 2007 title, Allison enlisted these young women to go out into their local communities help spread the message by collecting jeans. Forty girls did just that and collected over 1500 pair! Allison delivered these new and slightly worn jeans to eleven agencies throughout the state and with each delivery she spoke to residents about overcoming personal challenges and having positive self-esteem. Since the inception of NEDA’s “Be Comfortable in Your Genes” campaign, Allison has spoken to thousands of people about positive body image and embracing the “real” you. As a survivor of bulimia, Allison is a pro-active voice in raising awareness of eating disorders and prevention. Since 2006 she has collected over 5,000 pair of jeans and has personally donated them back to community agencies throughout Florida who are in great need. Scenes from 2009 HOPE Teen Board member, Maude Leclerc, once again organized an AMAZING National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and Pageant Pants Drive! On Feb. 27, Maude was featured for the second year in a row on CBS 4 in South Florida! On Friday,February 27, 2009, Maude was on CBS 4 in Miami! Great job Maude! ***Click here to watch her interview*** University of Florida Candelight Vigil: Gainesville, FL (Feb. 25 2009) ***Click here to read about her presentation*** On February 26, HOPE Board members, Allison and Deborah, traveled to Tallahassee to participate in the NEDA STAR event- a nationwide effort to raise awareness for the need for mental health insurance parity. Thank you to Kirsten Coleman for organizing a Pageant Pants Drive! She collected over 270 pairs of jeans! Thank you so much to the following organizations, businesses and schools for supporting Pageant Pants over the years! *The Miss Florida Organization and 2007 contestants * Studio CARA * Essence Salon and Day Spa * WOAMTEC- Women On A Mission To Earn Commission * David Maus Toyota * XL 106.7 * Orlando Woman Newspaper * eWomen Network Orlando * Suburban Republican Women's Club of Seminole County * Orlando Public Library * ReMax Goldstar * Miss Gainesville/ Miss Alachua County Pageant * Miss Miami Pageant * Coastal Pageants * Delta Delta Delta, University of FL * Delta Gamma, University of FL * UCF Nightly News * South Florida Superstars * Lyman High School * Passport Charter School * American Heritage * Bridgewater Middle School * Indian Ridge Middle School *Valencia Community College *Delta Delta Delta, Stetson Scenes from 2008 Total collection as of June 20, 2008= 2,667 pair! HOPE campaign- South FL: Thank you so much to Louise Richer, HOPE board member, and Maude Leclerc, HOPE teen board member, for organizing this 2 week campaign! On Wednesday, April 30, Maude was on CBS 4 in Miami! Great job Maude! Click here to watch her interview Some of the 2008 recipients are: Edgewood Children's Ranch Our Daughter's Keeper, St. Petersburg Pinellas Village Heartbeat Boutique, Melbourne, FL Family Services of Metro Orlando Boy's Ranch, Live Oak, FL PACE Center Women's Resource Center Earl Nobles Family Service Center Center for Women in Distress of Broward County South Fl Youth Co-op YWCA Treasure the Children *More coming soon....* The official drop-off locations are as follows: Studio CARA 1620 S. Orlando Ave. Maitland, FL 32751 Essence Salon and Day Spa 515 N. Park Ave. Suite 114 Winter Park, FL 32789 Re Max Goldstar 5122 Dr. Phillips Blvd Orlando, FL Jaspon, Armas and Armas, P.A. 640 N. Hillside Avenue Orlando, FL 32803 407-513-9515 Drop-off from 8:30-5 Salon Ciseaux 658 North Wymore Road Winter Park, FL 32789 407-865-5881 www.ciseaux.com Lavished 1210 S. International Pkwy Suite #122 Lake Mary, Florida 32746 www.shoplavished.com 407-444-2777 SPARK! Family Enrichment Center 5965 Red Bug Lake Road Winter Springs, Fl. 32708 407-679-7775 www.SPARKEC.net South Florida locations will be announced soon! For more info on Miami locations, please contact Dyan at LEWDYAN1@aol.com Los Angeles, CA- location to be announced Scenes from the Pageant Pants Drive 2008 WOAMTEC first edition of Confident Women Magazine (April 2008) Orlando Women Newspaper(Feb. 2008) SW FL Parent and Child Magazine(March 2008) All of the jeans that were bagged and ready to go were delivered to Edgewood Children's Ranch on March 28 At the storage unit where we sort the jeans and get them ready for distribution: Thank you to Leslie Christin and Studio CARA for being an official drop-off location! WOAMTEC Collection- Over 180 pair of jeans were collected March 4, 2008 by the women of WOAMTEC! **An additional 53 pair were donated by WOAMTEC on March 6, 2008 making the WOAMTEC total 233 pair!** **An additional 18 pair were donated by WOAMTEC on March 7, 2008 making the WOAMTEC total 251 pair!** ** The WOAMTEC total is= 522! Thank you to Jillian Tapper, the new Miss Miami Outstanding Teen, for collecting over 170 pair of jeans! Thank you so much to the Miss Gainesville Pageant for making Pageant Pants a charity that they support! 500 pair of jeans were collected March 4, 2008 at Bridgewater Middle School! Thank you so much!!! The Miss Florida Pageant and Helping Other People Eat (H.O.P.E., Inc.) Present “Pageant Pants” 2007 Press Release “Be Comfortable in Your Genes- Don’t Fight Your Genes, Just Change Your Jeans” The National Eating Disorders Association’s “Be Comfortable in Your Genes” campaign is designed to call attention to positive body image and the dangers of eating disorders. To celebrate healthy body image and positive attitudes the Helping Other People Eat, H.O.P.E. and the Miss Florida Pageant are supporting the “Be Comfortable in Your Genes” campaign by coordinating a statewide event entitled, “Pageant Pants.” Through these efforts we asked each of our Miss Florida contestants and their Executives Directors to clean out their closets and donate jeans that no longer fit or ones they do not feel comfortable in. This was an opportunity to give back to our communities through the donation of these jeans while embracing our own individuality and self-acceptance with regard to size and shape. Over 1,500 pair of jeans were collected from the 40 local titleholders! All of the items will be donated to the charities throughout the state of Florida. Because of their generosity, eight charities and schools will benefit from the jeans drive. Last year, as Miss Miami, Allison collected and donated over 1,000 items to Goodwill of Hollywood. Katie Mathews-Johnson, Miss First Coast 2007, collected over 240 pair of jeans and was named the “Jean Queen.” Since she donated the greatest number of jeans she will receive a one-of-a kind denim outfit made by the International Academy of Design and Technology, hair care by Ana Yebba at Essence Salon and Day Spa and a make-up consultation by Janet Mednick of Onsite Beauty! Allison has recently been named an Ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association. She joins the ranks of Paula Abdul, Jamie Lynn Sigler and Scarlett Pomers. In addition she has teamed up with the Girl Scouts Uniquely Me Program to spread these positive messages. Last year, the jeans were distributed to: Edgewood Children's Ranch- Orlando, FL PACE Center- Orlando, FL Center for Drug Free Living- Orlando, FL South Florida Youth Co-op- Hollywood, FL YWCA- St. Petersburg, FL Metropolitan Charities- Tampa, FL Guarnare, Venezuela Haiti