I believe with all of my heart that people must choose to take whatever hardships and challenges life hands them and make the best out of it. I am honored to say that one of my very good friends has done just that. Courtney Critz (aka Cha Cha) was born with a life threatening illness that required her to have an emergency tracheotomy at the age of 3 months old. This posed as a struggle for her and her loving family everyday who lived day to day not knowing what the certainty of Courtney's life would be. Now, Courtney is 16 years old, she is
Miss Teen Nevada International 2012, and has raised thousands of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never have to pay
for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. Courtney has not only made giant strides for St. Jude, but in her own life as an intelligent, caring, beautiful young lady she has inspired
others to persevere in any given circumstance. She has also founded her own organization called the Toy Clean Up Project, which raises funds for St. Jude through the collection of new or gently used toys. She then holds garage sales and donates all of the proceeds to St Jude.
This past Saturday Courtney held her 3rd Annual Toy Clean Up Project Golf Tournament at Empire Ranch Golf Club in Folsom California. Rain or shine (and boy did it rain!), these golfers were out on the course, eager to play and support such a worthy cause. Courtney invited several familiar faces from the International Pageant family to help with her event, including my sister titleholders Chelsea Vuong (Jr. Miss California International 2012) and Amanda Jenkins (Miss Teen California International 2012),
Taylor Kandris, Caitlin Ross, and Katie Cryder. After a rainy day of golf the attendees were treated to an amazing dinner while us ladies sold raffle tickets and Courtney auctioned off live auction items. I would like to personally thank Ken Daurio (the writer of such movies as "Horton Hears A Who", "Despicable Me", "Hop", and many more) for donating autographed copies of all those movies as well as a signed movie poster of "The Lorax" for the live auction. Keep up the great work you're doing Cha Cha. You are a true blessing, I love you!
for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. Courtney has not only made giant strides for St. Jude, but in her own life as an intelligent, caring, beautiful young lady she has inspired 
My dear friend Courtney Critz is the reigning Jr. Miss California International 2011. She uses her title to champion her cause, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. For those who do not know, St. Judes is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never have to pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. To help raise funds for St. Judes, Courtney started Toy Clean-Up Project. Through this, Courtney collects new or gently used toys. She then holds garage sales and donates all of the proceeds to her cause. I am very inspired by Courtney's dedication and perseverance. So, I could not think of a better way to support her efforts than by collecting toys in my area and holding a garage sale of my own. Through this one sale we were able to raise $200! All of the proceeds from the sale went to Courtney and her project. I am so proud of you Courtney and all of your efforts with your cause. Keep up the great work girly!!
