elements

Old tiaras sat in a box, collecting dust in the back of a dark closet. Tiaras of all shapes and sizes. Ones with pink gems and others with blue and green and purple.

Those jeweled crowns once rested upon heads stiff with hairspray, complementing the sparkle of its beauty queen’s teeth, eyes and dress.

So what’s a beauty queen to do with her boxes and boxes of old tiaras? She can use them to start her own nonprofit organization, of course. At least that’s what Jenna Edwards, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Miami (UM), majoring in communication studies and English, did.

“I had about 20 tiaras in a shoebox and I kept them out of the way because they were insignificant to me. I had so many that they didn’t matter anymore. My larger crowns and the ones that were a challenge to win were kept on a shelf for display,” said Edwards.

It started in June of 2000 when she was trying to think of something to do with all of her tiaras from past beauty pageants. Not wanting to throw them away, she thought about having a tea party and giving the tiaras to girls who were terminally ill.

“I have a heart for helping others in less fortunate positions and I had struggled with self-image issues myself. I wanted to help other girls with the same issues,” said Edwards.

Edwards posted a message about her idea on the Internet and got a great response. People wanted to send her their old tiaras and others wanted to start the same program in their town. Days after Edwards posted the announcement she incorporated the name, Queen For A Day.

“Because of the response from the internet, I decided to jump on the opportunity and incorporate Queen For A Day. At the time, I had no idea it would turn into a national organization consisting of 120 volunteers.”

Edwards got the idea for the name of her organization from her mother, who remembered an old game show from the 1950’s, called Queen For A Day.

“I felt the name captured the immediate activity of the program. My mother and I later added the phrase ‘Confidence For a Lifetime’ to sum up our mission statement,” said Edwards.
Queen For A Day parties run about three hours and include a tea party, makeovers, manicures, feather boas, long white gloves, Polaroid pictures and, of course, the tiaras. Girls have been crowned between the ages of 18 months and up to 21 years old.

“The girls get so excited when they find out they can keep their tiaras,” said Edwards. “They’ll show off and prance around the room.”

Some of these tea parties are held in clinics with out-patient children, but they are also held at hospitals with in-patients.
Edwards, far from being a novice at beauty pageants, currently holds the Miss UM title and was once Miss Teen All American.

“Being Miss UM has opened several doors and I’m only through half of the year. I am trying to get myself into the community as Miss UM, hoping to make valuable contacts for Queen For A Day.”

Edwards was recently awarded with the Louise P. Mills Student Award from the UM Women’s Commission.

“Every time I’m recognized as Miss UM, I’m also recognized for Queen For A Day. I’ve always known that wearing a crown gets more attention, so I’m taking full advantage of my position to market the organization,” said Edwards.

This Mississippi native, with just one more year of school to go before graduation, has already made Queen For A Day her full-time job.

“I never saw myself working with children,” Edwards said. “I have to be very outgoing when I’m with the girls, even though I’m normally a reserved person.”

Edwards would like to eventually travel to the 20 different chapters of Queen For A Day, which have been started across the United States and Canada, by other philanthropic enthusiasts and pursue this project on a national level.

For now, each chapter is responsible for its own supplies at the tea parties and they all have their own ways of raising money and obtaining donations.

Plane tickets were donated to the Columbus, OH chapter, which they raffled off to make money for supplies.

At the parties in Memphis, Clinique representatives make special appearances, providing all of the makeup and performing the makeovers on the girls.

Grocery stores donate food and Walgreens has also provided makeup for parties. The tiaras are passed on to the girls from beauty queens all over the country.

Katie Harman, Miss America 2002 and Kelly Gaudet, Miss Florida 2002, have attended Queen For A Day tea parties. Harman visited the Portland, OR chapter and Gaudet visited a tea party held at Miami Children’s Hospital.

“It’s a great feeling to see the girls’ reactions and the looks on their faces,” said Edwards. “And to know that I helped put those smiles there.”

So what’s Edwards’ next step?

Incorporating the boys into her parties. One roadblock she has faced is that some hospitals do not allow gender-specific programs. Edwards has brought athletes to visit with boys with planned arts and crafts as their activity.

She is currently implementing a new program for boys, called “Heroes.”

“With the recent emphasis on real-life heroes, we hope to reinforce the values of bravery and courage through images of firefighters and police officers,” Edwards said.

Edwards has thought about going to graduate school, but for now she plans to stay in Florida. She will be representing the University of Miami at the Miss Florida competition in St. Petersburg, June 28.

“Because Queen For A Day is my platform [for the Miss Florida competition], I have the opportunity to talk to people all over the state, and possibly all over the country, about the organization, speaking and making appearances for fundraising. I feel this is the perfect outlet for both the Miss America organization and Queen For A Day,” said Edwards. “After all, the Miss America organization is for encouraging young women to take a stand on social issues and also, on their self esteem.”

Edwards plans to make fund raising for Queen For A Day her full time job after she graduates, to acquire enough money to setup payroll to hire herself.

“A lot of people have been inspired by taking something they’re good at and applying it to volunteering,” said Edwards. “Myself included.”

- Abigail Putnam, Contributing writer