With smiles as bright as their pink and red team shirts, fifteen adolescent girls sang and danced in the Paseo Colorado courtyard on Sunday as singer/songwriter/actress Monet Bagneris led a cheering section of family members, celebrities and passersby. This electrifying celebration was the uplifting finale to the 3rd Annual Monet Cares Music, Theater and Health Institute, a three day summer program that uses the performing arts to build confidence, life skills and healthy habits among girls between the ages of twelve and seventeen.

Held at Maranatha High School, the Institute included music and dance workshops, healthy cooking demonstrations, discussions on financial literacy, fitness workouts, a college student panel, motivational speakers, an empowerment session called “Beauty From the Inside Out” and more.

Entertainer and wellness advocate Monet Bagneris created the Monet Cares Music, Theater and Health Institute to help girls embrace healthy life choices.

“We encourage the young ladies to think about the importance of what they put into their bodies, their minds and their spirits so that they can lead lives of success,” Bagneris told Pasadena Now. “The transformed confidence levels. The smiles on their faces, the slouched shoulders turning into straight shoulders. Those are the moments that make it all worth the while.”

The Institutes’ optimistic themes were summed up in the lyric of “A Brand New Day,” an original song which Monet unveiled during Sunday’s event.

Sunday’s showcase at the Paseo also featured many of the experts who worked with the youth during the Institute: dancer and motivator Karisma Collins, fitness trainer and dancer Rebecca Broxterman, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Jason Taylor and Pasadena City Attorney/ City Prosecutor Michele Beal Bagneris (who also happens to be Monet’s mother). Brittany Wagner, reigning Miss California for the Miss United States Organization, served as emcee for the showcase.

Monet Cares extends special thanks to major contributors including, City of Hope (Mayra Serrano, CCARE community interventionist), Wells Fargo Bank, Puritas Beverages, California Pizza Kitchen (Alex Montes, general manager), Kohl’s Department Store/Kohl’s Cares Team, Maranatha High School, the City of Pasadena

For more information on Monet Cares, visit MonetCares.org or call (818) 570-1321.