West Deptford Sends off Miss Pre-Teen Amazing in Style

It's been a whirlwind two weeks for West Deptford's Kayla Baylor.

Voted Miss Pre-Teen Amazing for New Jersey (in truth, her title spans the tri-state region), Baylor was struggling to raise the funds for a trip to attend the next level of a national pageant celebrating women with disabilities.

But word got around that she needed some help, the community dug deep, and the results of that effort were staggering.

At a small ceremony on Friday, West Deptford officials, advocates, businesspeople, and even a fellow pageant winner showered Baylor with everything she needed to make the trip happen in comfort and style.

Deputy Clerk Michelle Hack presented Baylor with a makeup bag and gift card donated by Beth's Hair Boutique and Body Spa; Baylor will board the plane with a full makeover from the stylists there. 

Miss West Deptford 2013 Dai’jah Diggs gave Baylor a bouquet of flowers.

Deborah Hill, the ASPEN (Asperger Syndrome Education Network) chapter coordinator for Camden and Burlington County, offered special recognition for Baylor, and Denise Nicolosi of the West Deptford Committee on the Disabled said that Baylor "embodies the whole meaning of the committee," adding that she was pleased "to help her have this experience."

On behalf of the Committee on the Disabled, which did not meet this summer, the township government voted unanimously at its Thursday meeting to donate $250 towards Baylor's trip, and Committeewoman Denice DiCarlo presented the check to her in person on Friday. 

Baylor was also given a $3,000 donation—the original amount she had been trying to fund-raise—from the ownership group at the RiverWinds Restaurant, which had guaranteed last week that she would have enough to make the trip.

The teenager said she was "shocked" at the outpouring of support from her community.

Baylor is looking forward to the pageant as an opportunity to "work on social skills [and] have fun." She said she was a bit apprehensive about the plane ride, but excited to travel.

"She's endured a lot of bullying, not just from kids, but adults as well," said her mother, JoAnn Colaneri.

The anxiety would get to be so overwhelming, Colaneri said, that Baylor "would start vomiting" at times before she had to leave the house.

But the level of support that the township has summoned in seeing her off is "a real act of compassion," said Mayor Ray Chintall, and one owed to the broad-shouldered community that made it possible.