Donning what she described as a classic '50s pink dress, Paula Mackarey got her first taste of what it's like to walk down a runway.
So, too, did her 5-year-old daughter, Madeleine, who stole the show with her pink headband and faux pink flower.
"It's a great community event because, in some way, everyone is affected by breast cancer," said Ms. Mackarey, who said she has relatives and friends who have been diagnosed with the disease. "This does well to raise awareness and funding."
More than 350 people gathered in the ballroom at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel in Scranton on Sunday to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure benefit, Pink Elegance on Parade.
Now in its ninth year, the fundraiser featured a fashion show that included 60 models, many of them cancer survivors.
Since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2007, Nancy Kman and her 9-year-old daughter, Rachel Gerfin, have been mainstays at the event.
Striding down the runway hand-in-hand on Sunday, the mother and daughter twirled and then posed in their black dresses.
Since its inception, the event has raised $180,000 for the Northeast Pennsylvania affiliate of the Komen for the Cure, co-chairwoman Joanne Arduino said.
"A great thing about that is 75 percent of what we raise stays local," she said. "It goes to education, screening and treatment. All of that is important."
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