BANGOR – A group of local youth learned a lot about fashion merchandising, event planning, fund-raising and helping others at an event they organized.

The teens from the Bangor Y’s Interact Leaders Club, with the help of Bangor Y Youth and Family Director Nancy Cambridge, and JC Penney store manager JB Klecha, served as hosts for the Spring into Summer fashion show held April 8 at Eastern Maine Community College’s Rangeley Hall.

The club raised more than $2,000 for YouthAIDS.

More than 150 guests attended the show where models, many trying it for the first time, sported JC Penney fashions on the runway, including spring and summer sportswear, swimwear, prom gowns and evening wear. Models included Bangor Y board members, staff and program participants, and Bangor Area Breakfast Rotary members ranging in age from preschoolers to adult.

Isaac Rosen and Christie Ames, president and vice president of the Interact Leaders Club, emceed the event, introduced the models and shared fashion savvy. Before the show, hors d’oeuvres were served while the Bangor High School Jazz Choir and the 4-Ways A Capella Quartet performed.

Klecha said, “JC Penney supports Bangor Y programs through our nationwide JC Penney AfterSchool grant program. The Leaders Club fashion show is another great way for us to get involved with our youth and follow through with our commitment to our community.”

The Bangor Y received a $5,000 grant from JC Penney AfterSchool.

The Bangor Y Interact Leaders Club is a program for teens in grades eight-12 that focuses on community service, relationship building and developing leadership skills in a social setting. The group is sponsored by the Bangor Area Breakfast Rotary.

“Everything for this event was donated, including the fashions, the hall, the food, the entertainment, the models, even the runway,” said Nancy Cambridge, Bangor Y Youth and family director. “The Leaders Club is now able to donate 100 percent of the funds raised from the fashion show to the YouthAIDS organization. Our kids had fun doing this for a great cause.”

In addition to the Interact Leaders Club, the Spring into Summer fashion show was made possible by contributions, sponsorships and in-kind services from JC Penney, Bangor Area Breakfast Rotary, Jeff’s Catering, Eastern Maine Community College, Scot Miller and the Bangor High School YouthAIDS committee.

Models were Carrie Elliott, Bangor Area Breakfast Rotary member; Micah Robbins, Bangor Y board member; Caroline Hall and Clarissa Audet of the Bangor Y Brewer Neighborhood Club; Kelsey Baron, Bangor Y Afterschool participant; Epke Paquette, Bangor Y preschooler; Tish Baron, Stacy Cox, Kathy Perry, Bangor Y staffers; Y friends Justin Bergeron, Mark Girard, Rachel Callaway and Kara Beckwith; and Interact Leaders Club members Annie Cambridge, Brooke Hardy, Chelsea Qualgia, Alex Ortiz and Jesse Schwartz.

For information, call Carrie Anderson, director of development and communications, or Nancy Cambridge, youth and family director, at 941-2808 and 941-2815.