Jennifer Skinsacos holds the title of Mrs. Westbrook. At the Mrs. Maine America pageant in March, she hopes to move on to the national stage. Skinsacos says she has one reason for her involvement in the pageant: to raise awareness for a charity known as the Eleanor Clare Paye Charitable Fund.

Also known as the Power of Elle, the organization is based in Saco, and Skinsacos is a fundraiser and board member. Elle Paye died from a rare lung cancer in 2010, three months shy of her sixth birthday, and her parents, along with friends such as Skinsacos, formed a nonprofit to raise money to award local scholarships or grants.

According to Skinsacos, due to the size and location of Paye’s cancer, she was given two to six months to live, but endured more than 20 months of treatment, “some of which were the first successful treatments on a person that small.” She said pediatric oncologists now use what is called the “Elle protocol” when approaching new patients.

This Sunday, Jan. 11, at the Biddeford-Saco Elks club, Skinsacos is hosting an event to celebrate the anniversary of Paye’s birthday. She said a number of local businesses and community members are donating “their time, talent, and goods to be raffled off to help raise money and awareness for this amazing charity.”

According to Skinsacos, the fund has given more than $20,000 back to the community in donations, grants and scholarships since its inception four years ago.

Skinsacos, an Old Orchard Beach native who has lived in Westbrook for six years with her husband and two children, said Tuesday that she got involved in the Mrs. Maine pageant solely to raise awareness for the charity.

“I decided to use this as an opportunity to get this information out there statewide,” she said. She added that pageantry “is completely out of my comfort zone,” but said she’s had a few friends compete and do well with raising awareness for other causes.

“I’m in it to win it,” she said.

A bartender at Ken’s Place restaurant in Scarborough, Skinsacos has held a number of fundraisers for the charity, but she said this Sunday will be special.

“We wanted to make a very sad day a little less sad,” she said about the fundraiser.

Westbrook resident Jennifer Skinsacos stands in front of the Dana Warp Mill, showing off her title of Mrs. Westbrook. Courtesy photo