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Enter Newtown's Beautiful Baby Contest To Help A Wounded Veteran

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Does your baby have what it takes to win Newtown's Beautiful Baby Photo Contest?

The eighth annual Beautiful Baby Photo Contest, which is based in Newtown, is currently seeking photos of children newborn to 4 years old.

The eighth annual Beautiful Baby Photo Contest, which is based in Newtown, is currently seeking photos of children newborn to 4 years old.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Beautiful Baby Contest.

On March 29, 2012, Marine Cpl. Roger Rua was serving with the Security Platoon attached to the 9th Engineer Support Battalion when the vehicle he was riding in drove over a command detonated improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

Photo Credit: Homes for Our Troops

Beautiful Baby Contest fundraiser to help wounded military veterans

Photo Credit: Lois Barber
Entry from a previous Beautiful Baby Contest

Entry from a previous Beautiful Baby Contest

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Beautiful Baby Contest.
All submissions to the Beautiful Baby Contest will be placed inside a wooden voting booth that will be at various Newtown locations.

All submissions to the Beautiful Baby Contest will be placed inside a wooden voting booth that will be at various Newtown locations.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Beautiful Baby Contest.

The eighth annual contest, which is a fundraiser for an injured veteran, is now seeking photos of children age newborn to 4 years old. Children do not need to live in Newtown to enter.

The child whose photo raises the most amount of money wins. The winner of the contest rides in the Newtown Labor Day parade in a chauffeur-driven convertible sent by Mercedes of Danbury. 

According to volunteer organizer Lois Barber of Newtown, the Beautiful Baby Contest is raising funds this year for Marine Cpl. Roger Rua from Naugatuck. Rua was shot through the spine on March 29, 2012, when the vehicle he was riding in drove over an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. He sustained fractures to his spine, femur and sternum, and traumatic brain injury as a result of the explosion.

The contest hopes to raise enough money to provide Rua with a handicapped-accessible house through the nonprofit organization "Homes For Our Troops," which builds free custom specially adapted homes for severely wounded young military personnel.

To learn Rua's story, click here.

To enter the contest, send a $10 check made payable to “Homes For Our Troops” and a nonreturnable 4” X 4” photo (you can cut a 4 x 6) with the child’s first name, phone number and email address written clearly on the back to: Beautiful Baby, c/o Lois Barber, 33 Zoar Road, Sandy Hook, CT 06482.

This is a photo contest and not a live pageant. The photos go on a wooden voting booth that will be at various Newtown locations. Siblings (newborn to 4 years) can go on the same photo in the voting booth.

Voting will take place in June at various locations. Contestant's families will be notified when and where the booth will be.

Between the baby contest, monetary donations, a Cut-a-Thon At Ricci’s Hair Salon and the auction of autographed Joe Namath footballs and Yankee vs. Red Sox tickets, nearly $9,000 was raised last year.

Last year’s contest benefitted Army Ranger Sean Pesce, who was shot 13 times and is paralyzed from the waist down. He received his home in Bethany right before Christmas.

For more information about the Beautiful Baby Contest, send an email to babycontest2010@gmail.com. For more information on Homes For Our Troops, click here. 

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