Miss Bermuda To Wear ‘Rags’ To Raise Funds

September 16, 2011

jana outerbridge miss bermudaNext week Miss Bermuda Jana Outerbridge will take part in a “Rag Mannequin” event to help her raise funding to compete in the upcoming Miss World Pageant in London.

The “Rag Mannequin” event is a unique fundraiser which will “show the public that without funding she will not be a fine representation of our beautiful island.”

Miss Bermuda will be dressed in rags in hopes of sparking the public’s interest in supporting the cause, and there will be a bank account the public can deposit funds into if they wish to support Ms Outerbridge.

The ‘Rag Mannequin’ event will be held Wednesday September 21, 2011 from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m in front of the Brown n Co. building.

Ms Outerbridge, who represented St. George’s, was crowned the 2011 Miss Bermuda on June 12th, beating 15 other competitors for the title. The 22-year-old is a graduate of Tennessee State University and participated in the Cabinet Office Jumpstart Programme working as a Cabinet Office intern.

An accomplished equestrian, she has represented Bermuda internationally and was a member of the Gold Medal winning team in the 2004 CEF.

While in university, she was voted Miss SOCA [Students Of Caribbean Ancestry 2008/9], Miss Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. [2009/10], won a university modeling competition and was named “Miss Allure Modeling Troop” 2010.

The 61st Miss World Final will be held on 6th November 2011, in London, England. 32 years ago, when the Miss World was also held in London in November, Bermuda’s own Gina Swainson won the crown, marking the first time a Bermudian won a major beauty pageant.

-Photo by Alex Masters, courtesy of StyleBermuda

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Category: All, News, Style & Beauty

Comments (16)

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  1. Team Jana!!! says:

    I really hope you get the community suport you deserve, it’s up to us to rally behind you since you’re going to be representing us (BDA) in front of an international audience. Best of luck in London, I’m sure you’ll do our island proud!

  2. Interesting... says:

    I think Miss Bermuda is a wonderful ambassador for Bermuda and will represent us well on the international stage.

    I am wondering however why she has to fundraise herself for this? Why is the Miss Bermuda organisation not subsidizing her trip or doing the fundraising on her behalf? I am sure in the past that the individual Miss Bermuda’s haven’t had to do this.

    Nevertheless I wish Miss Bermuda the best!

    • Team Jana!!! says:

      The real question we need to ask ourselves is what can we as a community can do to help Jana. I can tell you from first hand experience trying to get any sort of help from our local retailers, companies and GOVERNMENT when it doesn’t involve cricket or football is like pulling teeth. If it’s not sports related they aren’t interested!
      Jana’s pro-active, hands-on approach is to be commended. She knows that if the sponsors won’t come to you, you have go to them. Hopefully this story get’s her the exposure/support she needs.

      • haha says:

        I believe the Government is sponsoring Miss Outerbridge’s airfare. Usually I would have thought the organisers would have had sponsorship finalised more than 6 weeks before the competition. In addition was an application made to govt for a grant? And if so was it before this budgetary period? I do hope businesses can step up to help Miss Outerbridge and my comments are in no way meant to criticize her but I think theorganisers have dropped the ball and should be negotiating behind the scenes to ensure she is prepared.

        • In case you didnt know says:

          Actually, I know for a fact sponsorship was sought way before the pageant even took place so it’s unfair to criticize the organizers for having to do some fundraising if our local business comunity declined to support.

          • sad says:

            No one is critizing for having to do fundraising. I think the criticisms are that Miss Outerbridge shouldnt have to be standing on the sidewalk begging for money and that perhaps the organisers should be involved in sponsorship negotiations on her behalf behind the scenes.

            • jus sayin says:

              How do you know how involved the organizers are in fund raising? . . . just sayin

  3. Shar says:

    Please note Miss World will actually be held on November 6.

    GO JANA! Rooting for you all the way and I will be in the audience screaming at the top of my lungs! :)

  4. JCS says:

    If there’s no money to send her to Miss World or Miss Universe what was the point of having the contest at all? I do wish her well though, as I know these young ladies can represent our island in a positive way as Gina Swainson did many years ago.

    • In case you didnt know says:

      The determining factor whether a contestant is funded by their organizations largely depends on sponsorship. The difference between Miss Bermudas in the past and even beauty queens in countries less fortunate than ours is they’ve had the support from their governments and local businesses/communities. After all, these contestants work extremely hard and are representing the entire country when they get up on stage in front of millions. I personally have read stories of counties considered ‘third-world’ fully supporting their contestants but as stated by ‘Team Jana’ Bermudian retailers/business and government have been on a whole un-interested.

      I applaud Jana’s determination and I hope that her efforts are rewarded. I know I will be there to support; will you?

  5. Bri says:

    Such a beautiful young lady, inside and out! All the best Jana!!!

  6. Amazed says:

    This should be the responsibility of the organizers. I have never heard of such. So disgusting AND discouraging to future participants!

  7. Color Blind says:

    The government is paying her airfare! That’s peanuts! She’s representing this country! That’s terrible-the government has money to send themselves all over the world and I’m quite certain they are not staying at a Motel 6. I support her in her efforts but feel she shouldn’t have to fund raise to represent her own country.

  8. What next! says:

    Its sad and a bit lopsided to me,I hope her efforts are rewarded. I guess retailers reserve the right to support who they want.

  9. B, a Lady says:

    The ‘organizers’ of Miss Bermuda have a lot of questions to answer. I am stunned by this young woman’s predicament. She is showing tremendous class, and initiative, by solving the problem herself. Forget the organizers, forget the government. As an island, let us adopt her cause and support her. She will be waving our flag!

  10. Paula Cox's Orange Pippin says:

    If we made up figures about how many tourists she is attracting, we could charter her a private jet.