About 50 foster youths from the Sacramento region became stars for a day at the ninth annual 2010 Tea and Fashion Show event Sunday in the University Union Ballroom.

“Foster youths don’t always have the opportunity to strut their stuff and have their pictures taken,” said Joni Pitcl, president and founder of the nonprofit Foster Youth Education Fund, which hosted the event. “We want the public to see the beauty and potential in young adults.”

The organization planned to raise $50,000 in proceeds for foster youths in Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado and Placer counties. It will also give donations to Sacramento State’s Guardian Scholars, a program that helps emancipated foster youths graduate from college.

Karen Grace-Kaho, foster care ombudsman for the Department of Social Services, said the total amount of funds raised and the number of tickets sold will not be known until ticket sales are counted next week.

About 350 guests and 80 volunteers attended the event. A silent auction was also held during the fashion show to help raise more funds.

In 2009, the show raised $38,000. This is $33,000 more than when the event began in 2002.

The fashion show has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars to go toward the Guardian Scholars program and individual foster youths since 2002, Pitcl said. She projects that within the next five years, the event will hit a half a million in proceeds.

She said 90 percent of funds raised go toward foster youths and 10 percent toward putting the event together.

Freshman criminal justice major Jamaal Morgain said the fashion show has grown beyond proceeds; it has shown more diversity than when he began volunteering five years ago.

He said rather than having mainly Caucasian females, the event also has more African-Americans, Asians, Latinos and males participating.

Morgain said this allows a foster youth to learn about another person.

“By doing a fashion show, especially by being a male, you’re not limited because of situations like the way you were born,” Morgain said. “You can do anything you want to do and have fun while you’re doing it.”

Audience member Cearra Norton, freshmen criminal justice and psychology major, said the event is important because foster youths need the support.

“(Foster youths) are the next generation, and they deserve the same opportunities,” Norton said.

With the growth of the event in Sacramento, Pitcl also hopes the event will expand to regions outside of Sacramento and support Guardian Scholar programs at other universities.

“We can help (foster youths) get a leg up on their career and support to go to college,” Pitcl said.

LaVerne Adolfo, who has a foster youth housing named after her, started the fashion show 20 years ago. It ended when she died in the mid-1990s, and in 2002 Pitcl began hosting the fashion show again.

Pitcl said when Adolfo hosted the show it was called The Foster Youth Fashion Show. Instead of having choreographed dances, the models would walk on the runway, names would be called, and then the model would walk back.

Sunday’s fashion show had choreography to Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

She said the first year she tried to hold the event, 15 foster youths volunteered to model.

Trying to get the 15 people to model was difficult because she had to convince and beg people to be in the show, Pitcl said.

This year, approximately 65 foster youths volunteered to be in the show, but a few were not able to participate because of conflicts in their schedules. To be in the show, foster youths must be between the ages of 16 and 21 and must attend all rehearsals and fittings.

She said there are more participants this year because several came back from previous years, and the show has gained popularity.

“This is a win-win-win situation,” Pitcl said. “The youth win, the community wins and the kids get the support they need to go to college.”

Michelle Curtis can be reached at [email protected].