NY1 Interview

It has been an extremely busy month! Between Miss Staten Island events, my full-time and part-time jobs, and preparing for my upcoming benefit, I've been all over the place! Nevertheless, I am back to fill you all in on what I've been doing across the island.

Last month, I had the amazing opportunity to interview with NY1 as part of the "Staten Island Week In Review." To explain how this all came about, I need to back up a bit.

I have been working hard to plan "The HOPE Project," a benefit for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. This variety show, which will be held on March 29th at the College of Staten Island, will serve as a way to both promote my platform and raise funds for research to combat childhood cancer.

In order to ensure that 100% of the proceeds from this event could be donated to the foundation, I searched for sponsors to cover basic expenses. However, it is certainly not easy to raise over $5,000 quickly! I realized that friends and family who wanted to help, but could not be sponsors for $250, $500, or $1000, needed a way to give lesser amounts - because these little sums do add up. That is when I found GoFundMe (a crowdfunding site) and created my own page: www.GoFundMe.com/MissSI2014

It was then that I was contacted by Courtney Cohen, the PR Coordinator for GoFundMe, who said, "we are currently looking for powerful stories to share with the media...we wanted to see if you would be interested in sharing this story." I was so excited and happily agreed. It was only a week later that I was emailed with the NY1 Interview invitation!

I had never been interviewed in a television studio before and I couldn't have been more excited. When I first began in the Miss America Organization, I wouldn't have ever been able to speak in front a camera, let alone on NY1. I have to say, I am very proud of how far I've come.

If you haven't yet, you can see my interview here. And, if you are interested in learning more about the benefit, or would like to attend, visit my ticket website: www.MissSI2014.eventbrite.com

Thank you so much to Courtney from GoFundMe and to NY1 for welcoming me into your studio. I had such a wonderful morning and it was an experience I will always remember!