"It is the most surreal feeling in the world when your named is called as a winner," says Jena Sims, a frequent beauty pageant contestant and the current Miss Georgia Teen USA. And knowing what a special moment that is, Jena has sought to make it a reality for other children who are themselves very special. In 2004, Jena set up a nonprofit organization to raise money for a different kind of beauty pageant, one especially for children suffering from cancer. Called "Has Been Beauty Queens, Inc." – acknowledging the active role of former pageant queens in developing these new pageants – Jena’s organization created the Pageant of Hope, giving children who never thought they would be able to compete in a beauty pageant a chance to be celebrated by family, friends, and others in their community.

Having lost both of her grandfathers to cancer when she was ten years old, Jena has for many years dedicated her spare time to raising money for a cure. Now a college freshman, she has raised over eighty thousand dollars for cancer research, but her Pageant of Hope project allows her to make a difference in a way that goes beyond simple fundraising.

Open to both boys and girls – "princes" and "princesses" – each child who participates in one of the pageants has a chance to get a makeover, learn the "pageant strut," dress in his or her fanciest clothes, and stand in the spotlight in front of family and friends. At the end of the pageant, each child leaves a winner with titles such as "Best Eyes," "Best Hair," or "Best Smile." The pageants are also a fundraising opportunity, with over a thousand dollars in donations collected at the door at her first event. So far, Jena has held Pageants of Hope in various places around the country, including California, Georgia, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin, but her goal is to bring the event to all fifty states.

Though the pageants keep Jena busy raising money, scheduling events, and networking to expand the program nationwide, the most challenging aspect of the work is knowing that whatever happiness she is able to bring to these children, it is fleeting. There is still no cure for cancer, and though the pageant participants may be a "prince" or "princess" for a day, for many of them the following day will bring a return to radiation appointments or a regimen of powerful drugs. But her gift to them may last longer than she thinks. As a young girl who survived leukemia wrote to her about her Pageant of Hope experience, "I never knew that kids could be so sick and that you could spend one day with them and change their lives!" For a child living with cancer, even just one day in which they are celebrated for who they are – rather than defined by the disease that they have – can change their own outlook on life for all their days to come.

To learn more about Jena Sims and her cause, and how you can make a difference, please visit: http://www.jenasims.com/index2.php.

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