Maria DeCaro is a very busy 10-year-old. On top of her homework, the fifth-grader at Reynolds Elementary School balances dance lessons, Girl Scouts and her newest venture, pageant competitions.
Earlier this year, Maria thought she’d try her hand at a “confidence pageant” — not to be confused with the “Toddlers and Tiaras”-esque beauty pageants one might see on reality television — after receiving a flier for Miss Syracuse. (For some perspective on the organization’s prestige, Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, a Fayetteville resident, held the title of Miss Syracuse in 2013.) A confidence pageant teaches girls public speaking and interview skills. Makeup is often not allowed until the teenage years and even then is applied minimally for a natural look.
Much to her surprise, Maria was crowned Miss Syracuse Outstanding Pre-Teen. In August, she went on to win Miss New York State Fair Pre-Teen. Recently, she traveled to California to compete in the National American Miss Pageant.
Now, Maria is parlaying her pageant success into a few good causes. As part of her title platform, Maria is a young spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign.
“I want to inspire kids to be ‘heart healthy,’ and to lead a healthy lifestyle,” Maria’s Facebook fan page reads.
Ten might seem a bit young for a kid to worry about being “heart healthy,” but Maria’s got good reason: after participating in a study about the effects of lead and stress on the heart, Maria’s family found out she had a rare heart problem.
She is the one in 300,000 people who have an anomalous coronary artery, an often symptomless condition that leaves her with only one functioning coronary artery in her heart.
“Her heart has learned to compensate,” said Maria’s mother, Jen DeCaro. “Right now, she can lead the life of a healthy 10-year-old. The only way to fix it is surgery.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women and causes one-third of deaths each year.
“I want to tell girls to be heart healthy because you might have a problem and you don’t even know,” Maria said. “Who knew that I had a heart condition? You should always be careful, eating healthy and exercising.”
Maria’s heart problem prevents her from playing strenuous sports, and she has to wear a medical identification bracelet in case of emergency, but it hasn’t stopped her from helping others. In addition to her advocacy work with Go Red, Maria is helping lead the next project for Reynolds’ Kids for Caring Club.
Each year, the Kids for Caring Club makes blankets for breast cancer patients. In January and February, Maria will be using using her pageant title to garner donations from local businesses and community members to make even more blankets to be distributed at Vera House and the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.
As Miss New York State Fair Pre-Teen, Maria makes many local charity appearances. She’ll be helping ring the bell at a Salvation Army Red Kettle event this holiday season, and she visited Hubbard’s Hounds Dog Rescue’s Photo Day with Santa on Dec. 6 at Barks and Rec Doggie Day Care in Cicero.
“It’s cool because sometimes just being there and helping people makes you feel good,” Maria said. She said her charity work lets her have fun and make friends while giving back to her community.
Since she has to sit out sports, pageants allow Maria to pursue other activities with kids her own age and work toward her dream of becoming an actress.
“I didn’t plan on being the ‘pageant mom,’” Jen said. “There’s a lot of scholarship money with pageantry. This is an avenue for us and for Maria where she can earn scholarships. Where she’s limited in one avenue, she can choose another.”
To learn more about Maria, her pageantry and her work, visit facebook.com/nysfairpreteen.
