Elated. Amazing. Impressed. Excited.

Those are just some of the words Keri Looijen used to describe how she felt as the Rides for Relief Pin Up Pageant wrapped up this past Saturday. Initially, she struggled to find the words at all as the event raised a total of $10,475 for Airdrie P.O.W.E.R.

"Our original goal was $5,000 and the girls showed up with over $7,000 cash in hand with their fundraising that they did on their own," Looijen said, describing how each of the 15 ladies who participated in the pin up competition exceeded expectations for fundraising leading up to the event.

Over the next six hours, a live stream event was held at Cam Clark Ford in Airdrie where the dolls strutted their stuff down the runway and live bands played while donations continued to pour in online.

And then so happy for Airdrie P.O.W.E.R. too. It's just such a great feeling."

Crystal Boys from Airdrie P.O.W.E.R. was on hand for the event and said it meant the world to her.

"To see the community come together to really support the vulnerable sector in this town, it just warms my heart and it really reminds me why I'm doing this and that the community, as people we care and we don't want anybody to suffer. To see a bunch of strong, powerful, independent women come together and say 'enough is enough, let's do something about this' is just amazing to me," Boys said. "A lot of women don't get to walk around like these women are today; strong, independent, know their worth. I want every single woman in Airdrie and area to feel that way."

Work has been underway on the Airdrie P.O.W.E.R. day shelter in Airdrie for a little over a year. Boys expects construction to be complete within the next couple of weeks with the doors opening as soon as possible.

Meantime, the Rides for Relief Pin Up Pageant was so successful that Looijen and Loeppky are considering making it an annual or bi-annual tradition.

"It obviously went over really well and I think the more momentum we get with the more publicity we get, the more popular it will become," said Loeppky. "It's just going to keep growing and become even more spectacular."