Jade Monfils at the Christmas Angel Project 2008

Christmas is more a time of giving than receiving, and I spent the holiday with the Dallas Soup Mobile. Which is an organization that I have previously worked with. All throughout the year the "Soup Man" David Timothy, takes the Soup Mobile van around the streets of Dallas and feeds the homeless. December 24th and 25th was the Soup Mobile's Christmas Angel Project, which took 450 homeless off the streets, and put them up at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. Where each person got their own room to rest in and shower. They were feed 3 meals in the banquet room, and were given new clothes (all donations from companies). My role at the event was during Christmas dinner, I greeted the guests as they arrived and introduced the Chairman of the Christmas Angel Project. A lot of people usually just disregard the homeless, but they are people who are just down on their luck for the moment. They are working to get back on their feet, and the holidays are a supposed to be a time of celebration and not despair. I saw many familiar faces from the Dallas Day Out event at City Hall back in October. Many of the homeless actually remembered me from that event, I joked with some of them when the others were saying "How does she know you?" that "Oh yea, we go way back". Being at this event for me was the true spirit of the holidays, and I am so glad that I got to meet everyone. Here is another clip of the days events online:

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/local_state/index.html?nvid=316198&shu=1

Jade Monfils at the Garland Asian Festival

I love cultural events, you get to learn about other countries and customs. Being mixed with Filipino, Chinese, French, and Indonesian. I have spent time getting to know all the unique cultures that make me who I am today. I was able to emcee the Garland Asian Festival that was held at the Saigon Mall. There were performances from the cultures of China, Japan, India, Vietnam, Philippines, Hawaii, Thailand, and Cambodia, just to name a few. It was a colorful day with many talented people that taught others about each individual culture and what makes each different. There were different booths set up for the children that had fun things like face painting, and other food booths that had snacks from many different countries. Several different awards were presented to many community leaders that have helped the Asian community here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I was even honored to get an award myself!

Jade Monfils emcees at the Philippine Physician Fundraiser

I haven't been able to update my blog for a little while, but I recently emceed a fundraiser that was very important to me. I had the chance to go to the Philippines last Christmas, and it was the 1st time that I had visited. A lot of time when people vacation, they spend most of their time at resort areas and don't go out to see how the people of the area actually live. I spent my Christmas last year in the provinces, all the people were so welcoming and sweet. But at the same time these people don't have a lot and being there made me feel so blessed about my life here in the US. Also in the city when I visited Manila, there are children that don't even have homes. I could go on and on about this...... I decided there that one of my goals was to do something to be able to help people overseas. It is not like here in the US, where everyone has an opportunity to change what happens to them in the future, most people who live in poverty have no choice and no opportunity. Even though I am here, I was able to help raise money at a fundraiser, whose profits all go to the Philippines. These funds help to provide medical assistance to people who otherwise could not afford medical care. It was a casino night and chips were purchased, at the end of the night all players were able to purchase prizes that were donated. It was a fun night as well, and even more rewarding that all proceed went to such a worthy cause!!

Jade Monfils at the Dallas Asian Chamber of Commerce Award Luncheon

The Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce had an awards ceremony at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown. This is a yearly event that honors prestigeous Asian Americans and organizations that play a significant role in the Dallas Asian community. Sylvia Komatsu, an executive at KERA was the MC. My role at the event was to present the awards to the recipients. The guest speaker was Roger Staubach, Dallas Cowboy Hall of Famer, was the guest speaker. It was an honor to be surrounded by so many successful Asian Americans in the Dallas community!

Jade Monfils at BBBS Black Tie Ball

Saturday evening was the Black Tie Ball at the Hilton Anatole, benefiting the the Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas. There was an auction of wonderful donations which even included tickets to the Presidential Inauguration next year, and a party with Elton John. All the proceeds will go toward taking children off of the BBBS waiting list and matching them with a mentor for one year. I had the opportunity to greet the guest as they entered the hotel and direct them to the event, surprisingly there were 4 different black tie events in the same night! I got the chance to talk and mingle and meet several other individuals with some of the same aspirations as myself, to work within the community and provide positive outlets for our youth. There was an artist doing sketches of the guests and I even got my portrait drawn. During the night there were several performances by "littles" which ranged from a trumpet performance, dancing, and an opera performance accompanied with a piano, which was AMAZING and got a standing ovation. This group of children was so talented and an inspiration, in that they can overcome their situations and find their own niche in life. I was honored to be able to help raise money for such a worthy cause.

Jade Monfils at Bea's Kids Benefit Gala

Saturday night there was a benefit gala/auction for an organization known as Bea's Kids. The organization was started by Bea Salazar 18 years ago. She was a disabled single mother of 5, and was barely making ends meet, when one day she went out to throw her garbage away. At the dumpster she found a young boy digging through the trash. Since it was summer time, he was not in school; therefore not getting the breakfast and lunch served there. He was hungry, but Bea threw the piece of bread that he had found back in the trash, and he began to cry. Since she was new to the apartment complex she didn't want her neighbors to think that she was hurting the boy, so she took him home and made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After he left there were 6 more children that came knocking at her door, asking for food. She thought that once school started the children would stop coming. She was wrong, once school started she continued to get kids asking for help with their homework. This was mostly due to the English language barrier that the children had at their own homes. Bea took the initiative and asked her apartment complex to donate an empty apartment to start a safe after-school program. She went to the local high school and asked the Honor Society students if they could tutor these children. What she did many years ago, lives on today. She has 4 after-school centers in the Dallas area, a school named after her, and has been honored by Oprah, President George Bush, and President Bill Clinton. She is an inspiration and I was so honored to meet her and help with the fundraiser for her organization. I had the opportunity to meet several volunteers, and board members at the event which was held at CityPlace downtown. It was a rewarding night, and I am glad that I was able to raise money for this wonderful cause!

Jade Monfils at Dallas Day Out

This weekend was Dallas Family Day Out at Dallas City Hall. This event is in part with the National Night Out campaign, which reinforces safety and crime prevention in Dallas. I served as the host for the day, and had the opportunity to meet several wonderful individuals. The day started out with a fashion show put on by Skyline High School's Fashion Marketing class. All the clothes were sponsored by Target. Since I am in the fashion industry, I love being able to see younger fashion students pursuing their dreams. I had a chance to talk to them and some of their parents- I love making new fashion friends!! Another big sponsor was State Farm- both sponsors were giving away items such as IPods, cameras, and $250 gas cards each hour which was exciting. All throughout the day their was an array of talented musicians from the DFW area. Here I am with the band Phoenix Heart. Another wonderful and accomplished woman that I had the opportunity to meet was Dr. Elba Garcia who is the Mayor Pro Tem and also Dallas City Council Woman over District 1. She was so well spoken and an inspiration as a successful community leader. I had a very exciting day, and the costumed characters added to the enjoyment!

Dress for Success

Another one of my favorite organizations is Dress for Success. I had the opportunity to meet a woman named Debbie a little over a year ago through it. I had not seen her in a while and last night I met up with her at the Galleria. We talked about how our lives have changed with in the past couple of months, and plans for the future. Just spending a typical girl's night out while window shopping. Here at the Galleria they were getting ready for the big Texas/OU game this weekend, and decorated the ice rink. It is very rewarding to know that you have the power to make a positive change in someone's life. I only see good things for her in the future!!

Jade Monfils judges the Van Oil Pageant

This weekend I traveled to the town of Van, which is a town east of Dallas in between Canton and Tyler, Texas. The pageant started at 9:00 am with little babies and progressed into the afternoon with the teens. Since Van is such a small town, this event is the largest fundraiser for the Van Chamber of Commerce. Here I am with the pageant coordinator Andrea Walker, and the chamber president John Barker. Once I got there I was excited to see Shannon McAnally (America's Perfect Miss) and the director Miss Shirley. I have competed with her before and was so happy when I found out she won the national title. It is so exciting to see all of the cute little children, it was so hard to be a judge! Not only are these little girls beautiful, but they all had poise and did exciting talents as well. The winner did a ballet dance, while the talent winner sang with an amazing voice. Here I am with a future "Pop Star"- her career ambition just might come true. She sure has the moves! I got to converse with many different people all day. In the Miss Division- the Oil Queen is the one who will be recognized all through Van and get to appear in the town's festival and parade October 25th. Here I am with last year's Oil Queen Brittany Cotton. For lunch Andrea took us to a delicious Mexican restaurant Patron's. We had a good time getting to learn all about each other and our different stories. I met alot of people and that is what being a pageant titleholder is really about!

Jade Monfils at the Big Brothers Big Sisters "Party Under the Stars"

Through out the year as Miss Dallas Galaxy my platform is "Preventing Youth Gang Crimes". I feel that the way to accomplish this is through positive role models and after school programs. Too many youth of today are coming from broken homes and growing up too fast. I previously have worked as a Youth Mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters and I have seen the impact first hand on what positive energy can do for a teen. This is why I was so excited to spend my Saturday night at the Big Brothers Big Sisters event which raises money for an organization that I feel strongly about. The event was in part with the Jason Terry Foundation. During the night he announced that since he had positive support through out his childhood, he was making a commitment that he would be a "Big Brother" to a troubled youth. Here I am with Bernadette Shults the volunteer coordinator of the Big Brothers Big Sisters. During the night there was a champagne welcome, silent and live auction, and food catered by Cantina Laredo. I really believe that if children are all given the opportunity that their possibilities are endless. I highly recommend becoming a "Big" and being a positive mentor to a child and putting them on the path of being a benefit to society.

Jade Monfils featured in Supermodels Unlimited

I was honored to be featured in the August issue of Supermodels Unlimited as a "Supermodel with Style". This award was given to me at the 2007 Texas Galaxy Pageant where I was nominated by the Galaxy Queens. Thanks ladies! Jade Monfils has been involved in modeling since the age of fourteen and is currently represented by Premiere Promotions of Houston. She was recently named Miss Texas Galaxy's Supermodel with Style. In her spare time she enjoys modern and contemporary art, museums, traveling, cooking Asian cuisine, and volunteering her time."

Jade Monfils featured in AsianWeek's Hot Shots

Here is the article that was featured in "AsianWeek" last month. "AsianWeek" is a weekly publication distributed in the San Francisco/ Bay Area for the Asian community..........

School attended:
The Art Institute of California-San Francisco

Plans for the future:
To be respected in the fashion industry, develop an organization to prevent youth gang crimes (which would consist of afterschool programs and positive role models), and host a fashion television show

If you could have dinner with any famous Asian American, who would you choose?:
Vera Wang. I would want to talk to her about becoming a successful businesswoman.

Favorite Asian food:
Tofu

Who do you admire most?:
My parents, because they taught me values and always support me in everything.

Favorite activity or hobby:
Traveling, cooking Asian food, spending time with loved ones and volunteering in my community

www.asianweek.com/2008/07/10/hot-shots-2/

Texas Galaxy Pageant

I had the opportunity to compete in the State Galaxy Pageant in Houston this past weekend. It was my 2nd year to compete and the competition was fierce...... all the contestants were not only beautiful, but also so accomplished..... We started Friday night with an orientation and got to meet each other. I sat next to Grecia Padilla who is Miss South Texas and was competing as Rio Grand Valley (pictured in blue, she was 2nd runner up) and had come with her director, but her family wasn't able to make it :( she was friendly and sweet as can be! Saturday morning we started our rehersals and we had a swimsuit press party at noon. We just missed a rain storm!! As soon as we finished walking around the pool, it started to pour rain!! Someone was looking out for us ;) I met Zereana Jess-Huff (Mrs. San Antonio- she won Mrs. Texas!) who is super sweet and 1/2 Filipino just like me!! That night we had a "pajama party where all the girls really got to bond with each other and learn more about each other. For the Final Competition on Sunday, I was awarded the Photogenic Winner (which suprised me..... I saw several of the photos that the other girls submitted and they were all beautiful. I also was the 1st runner up to the Winner Miss Houston Desiree Gonzales. I think that she will make a great representative of Texas! I learn so much each pageant that I compete in, I truly have learned skills that I take with me as life lessons. Thank you to all the coaches and people that have helped me on my journey. Here I am with Pageant Interview Coach Valerie Hayes (MC for the night). My mom was also with me all weekend to keep me company, I appreciate and love you!