Beauty Queen Fights Cancer on the Catwalk

Brandi LaCertosa of Dix Hills is used to the spotlight.

As a model and pageant queen, the runway is nothing new for this teenage glamour girl. On Sunday however, she took a break from the stage to give 18 children from the Stony Brook Pediatric Hospital Cancer Center the chance to do the catwalk.

LaCertosa, A Commack High School graduate, created "Runway to Recovery." The event donates the proceeds of the fashion show to A Mother's Kiss, a not-for-profit organization, which helps the families of children with cancer.

More than 200 guests came to the show, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Hauppauge, to watch the models strut their stuff and donate to the cause. LaCertosa also organized for a band to play and DJ Fresh from 102.7 served as the emcee.

"I love working with charities and I'm a fashion design major so I just decided to collaborate those two things and created the idea for the fashion show," she said. "I thought this event would be really small and I was afraid we wouldn't even get the minimum 150 people needed, but we overbooked. It's great to see it all come together."

In memory of a friend and classmate who died of brain cancer, LaCetosa, who is a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, sewed and created all 18 outfits in the show. She worked on the event for seven months and had the children pick out their favorite designs to wear in the show. In keeping with her pageant title, the Miss Teen Earth Northeastern U.S., made all of the outfits from recycled clothing.

"It's really cool that they're doing this because we're in and out of the hospital and feel crummy all of the time. So to have something that makes us feel pretty and happy, it's really nice," Donna Coane, high school senior from Commack, who modeled in the show said.

With cameras flashing, the crowd cheering and music pumping, the children strutted their best model poses and helped to stomp out cancer on the catwalk.