Miss Alabama Caitlin Brunell is one of the semifinals on Sunday night in the Miss America competition.
Brunell, 22, hails from Tuscaloosa and graduated from the Providence School. She currently attends the University of Alabama.
The beauty pageant contestant would like to obtain a Master’s degree in non-profit management and continue dance education at Broadway Dance Center in NYC.
Her career ambition is to dance professionally and to develop Caitlin’s Closet into a national, double bottom line social enterprise.
Character ballet en pointe is her talent while Caitlin’s Closet is her platform issue. The organizations website says that it provides young women without resources, either financial or otherwise, the opportunity to outfit themselves in donated clothes for proms, dances, academic award and sports banquets.
“New or lightly used dresses, have allowed teens to participate fully in important and exciting coming-of-age events, build their confidence, and create lasting memories,” it says.
Caitlin says she started the organization after collecting 100 dresses in 2006 and holding the first dress give-away in a school cafeteria.
“Reticent girls slowly trickled in to see if it was for real. Volunteers helped each girl find the perfect dress and then she ‘walked the runway’ for all to see! Witnessing the transformation as they walked down the aisle with their heads high and beaming smiles, I knew it was much more than a dress or a night out that was being given. I was a part of a special moment, a defining moment in these young girls lives, where self-value and confidence soared as they saw themselves transformed.”
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