By Laura Wakely
SHE may not have a crown but Gabriela Tapia is Brooklyn’s Charity Queen.
The Meadow Heights teenager competed in the Grand Final of the Miss Teen Australia competition in Sydney last week.
Although she missed out on the crown, the kind-hearted teen made the top three for the Charity Queen title, after helping raise more than $1000 for breast cancer.
Gabriela spent hours selling raffle tickets and devoted all of last weekend to rallying customers at Tico’s Drive Thru in Brooklyn to donate to Breast Cancer Australia.
The shop donated all the money from Friday’s coffee sales to the cause, helping Gabriela raise $1100 for the charity.
But it wasn’t just a beauty queen task, the fundraising was also inspired by her own experiences with breast cancer.
At just 13-years-old, Gabriela was “shocked” after doctors found a lump in her breast.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Gabriela said.
“I hadn’t thought that (breast cancer) could happen to young girls.”
After seeing family members lose their lives to breast cancer, Gabriela thought the worst.
But she was lucky to find that it was a cyst that could be removed.
While the fundraising was time-consuming and challenging, Gabriela said the entire Miss Teen experience had been amazing. “It was really exciting, but nerve racking as well,” Gabriela said.
“In Sydney, we went on a cruise that went around the harbour and went past the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“We also went to Bondi Beach and met the Bondi Rescue crew.”
But Gabriela said the highlight had been the Miss Teen pageant itself.
“It was fast paced and there was only a few make-up artists and hair stylists for the 32 girls,” she said.
While you’d expect catfights to ensue, Gabriela said the pageant girls were nothing like how they are portrayed on television.
“Everyone got along really well,” she said.
“They were really smart, pretty and talented girls.”
At 15-years-old, Gabriela was the youngest entrant, but had no trouble making friends.
“I became really close with the other girls from Victoria,” Gabriela said.
“One of them actually Facebooked me before the competition and we met up beforehand.”
Gabriela said the competition had also made her more social.
“I’m able to talk to people easily now, make conversation and present myself,” she said.
The teenage beauty might just be back next year for another shot.
