Emily Hughes participated in the Skate for Hope, August 30, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. This was the 5th Annual Skate for Hope. Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, Rachael Flatt, and Parker Pennington also skated at the event. Skate for Hope donates to the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, the Stefanie Spielman Fund, and the Solove Research Institute. Carolyn Bongirno started Skate for Hope five years ago. She is an amateur figure skater and breast cancer survivor.
[View Photos from the Vera Bradley Foundation]

One of three 2008 American Girl of the Year award recipients, a 10-year-old from Rowe Elementary School, met Emily Hughes in New York. Aisling Shepard, the "Real Girl" recipient, said that "It was amazing," referring to the trip to New York. Shepard also said she "wanted to meet her as fast as [she] could." Shepard was among 8,000 entries and was selected along with two other grand prize winners of the yearly contest.
[Read the full SunJournal.com Article]