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Media Credit: Britni Crocker Junior Remi Zeidan from the men's soccer team was the winner of VX's men's competition for Top Model.

Twenty-two students walked down the runway on Tuesday evening as part of Vision XChange's fourth annual Hopkins's Top Model event, benefitting the Dream to Reality Foundation.

The event featured 11 men and 11 women from different student organizations who competed in three rounds to become the "next top model." The winners were sophomore Kara Mirski, representing the J-Walk dance team, and junior Rami Zeidan, representing men's soccer.

The Dream to Reality Foundation, which the event benefitted, is a nonprofit organization determined to improve the education and health systems for children in Haiti and the Dominican Republic by building boarding schools for them.

The money raised goes towards building and furnishing the schools, as well as paying teachers to take care of the children.

VX decided to donate their profits to the Dream to Reality Foundation because of the personal connection the group has with the cause. Sophomore and VX member Lize-Anne Bonhomme's parents were the founders of the organization.

"We know exactly where the funds are going. We're getting [the children] off the plantation and into sanitary homes," Paige Knowles, senior and co-chair of VX, said.

Children currently live on sugar-cane plantations in cardboard boxes, even during hurricane seasons. In some cases, children begin working as prostitutes or field laborers before they even reach adolescence.

The Top Model event featured not only the models from different student organizations, but also presentations between rounds by Raymond Joseph, ambassador of Haiti to the United States, and Gerald and Micheline Bonhomme, the founders of Dream to Reality. Additionally, there was a performance by VIVAZ, Hopkins's African and Caribbean Performing Arts Company.

The event collected money through a $5 flat rate for admission, in addition to encouraging the audience to donate in order to support their favorite model. After each round, shoeboxes were passed around to audience members so they could put money into the box with their favorite model's name on it. Models with the most money in their boxes moved onto the next round.

VX is a part of the Center for Social Concern. According to Knowles, "the purpose of Vision Xchange is to spread awareness through events to inspire students to make global changes."

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