Miss Universe Canada Approaches

The Miss Universe Canada pageant is fast approaching, and one Chestermere girl, Shanda Roslyn, wants to make a big difference on her road to the crown.
Roslyn will be flying out to Toronto on May 18th to compete in the preliminaries of the pageant on the 25th of May, along with 59 other women from across Canada.
She hopes to become one of the top 20 girls, and move on the finals, ultimately winning the privilege to represent Canada on the international Miss Universe stage.
Voting for Roslyn on the Miss Universe Canada website also helps her chances, as the girl with the most votes from the public will be names People’s Choice, and guaranteed a spot in the final 20, regardless of her other scores. Roslyn hopes that as many people as possible will vote, and help her achieve her goal of the Miss Universe Canada title.
One of the most challenging pre-pageant tasks for Roslyn is getting the money together to actually compete for the title.
“I have paid for my own flights to Toronto, but to attend I need to pay the Miss Universe Canada organization $3885,” Roslyn said, “So far I have $1600 and I am need of an additional $2285.”
Roslyn has been volunteering all over Calgary, and is still looking to get sponsors to help her raise the money so she can compete.
One of the most exciting parts of the Miss Universe Canada pageant, to Roslyn, is that on top of the usual beauty pageant scoring in the categories of evening wear, bathing suit and interview, 25% of her final scores in the pageant itself will be based on how much money she can raise for her chosen charity, Operation Smile.
“The Miss Universe Canada organization actually selected two charities; SOS Children’s Villages and Operation Smile (specifically for programs in Nicaragua for each) and from there we were to pick which charity we wanted to raise money and awareness for,” Roslyn said of the charities themselves,
“I carefully researched both organizations and ended up selecting Operation Smile. It honestly was a charity that I had never heard of prior to this competition but I am so glad that I was educated and exposed to the important work they do, and that I now have the opportunity to raise money and awareness for them.”
As part of her campaign to raise awareness for Operation Smile, Roslyn donated all her tips on Friday, May 3rd from her job as a bar tender at the popular Calgary nightclub, Cowboys, to the charity.
“This coming Friday, May 10th, I am having another event at Cowboys called Save a Smile,” Roslyn said.
Tickets for the event are $10, and all of the proceeds from ticket sales will be going towards Operation Smile.
Roslyn is very excited to attend the competition, and has been putting her heart and soul into raising money and awareness for Operation smile.
“Whether I win or lose, I feel that this will be an amazing experience where I will meet many new people, contribute to important charities, and push myself mentally and physically.”