Sacramento State hosted the 11th annual Foster Youth Education Fund with a fashion show, and 51 current and former foster youths as models Sunday afternoon.

California Dreamin’ was the theme of the fashion show with four scenes representing the style and fashion of California with music and clothes.

The scenes included California Dreamin’, A Night at the Oscars, City of Dreams and Welcome to the Capitol. The fashion show began with the songs “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper and Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” accompanied with the youth models that wore bright summer clothing for the first scene.

Joni Pitcl, the president and founder of the Foster Youth Education Fund, said the fund is a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about the needs of foster youth and the scholarships that allow them to attend college.

“So many foster youth have support to go to college, but we also have an emergency fund,” Pitcl said. “If they get a flat tire or some kind of emergency, we help them with that too.”

The fashion show was not just about the clothing, but also about the confidence it gave to foster youth who walked the runway.

“They get an opportunity to work with other kids and I think the show itself helps them boost their confidence,” said Pitcl.

During the intermission, attendees who purchased raffle tickets at the entrance waited for their ticket number to be chosen to win one of the prizes. Ninety percent of the money raised from the ticket sales and raffle tickets go toward the Foster Youth Education Fund and the scholarships that foster youth can have access to, said Pitcl.

The Guardian Scholars Award, a full-ride scholarship for students who come from a foster care background, was also awarded during the event. The recipients were called on stage to talk about the Foster Youth Education Fund and how it has helped them succeed in college.

Senior criminal justice major Mark Hamlett is a member of the Guardian Scholars Program at Sac State.

“Being a former foster youth, there is a lot of stuff we go through and we experience that a lot of people don’t think we do,” said Hamlett. “ I was used to feeling alone and programs like this can make you feel like there is somebody there to back you, because they want to see you succeed.”

Cambrie Sevaaetasi volunteered for the event because her mom who worked for the department of social services told her about it and the event feels relatable to her.

“I have two foster youth (brothers), one of them is in the fashion show (and) they are part of this program and have been receiving benefits from this program,” said Sevaaetasi. “They’ve been through a lot, so it’s good just to be able to give back to them, to help them get along and to succeed in life.”

As the show’s finale, all the foster youth who participated in the fashion show took the stage for the last time. Each model wore a college shirt from different universities and colleges that represented the college of their dreams.

Leticia Lopez can be reached at l[email protected]