VIDEO: Girl Power Goes Deep in Chatham

How do you get over 200 people to show up at school on a Saturday?

That's easy: Girl power.

was the home of the first GIRL emPOWERed fundraising event Saturday. The event was conceived and organized by Chatham Township resident Dawn Paskalides, who worked with schools, local boards, businesses, vendors and police to .

While the nominal beneficiary of the event was the nonprofit SageGirl.org, many girls who attended the event also walked away as winners. Gianna Strand, the president of the Key Club, was awarded with a $1,000 college scholarship funded by the GIRL emPOWERed event. She read part of her essay to the crowd before Emily Bent, the executive director of Sagegirl.org, presented her with the scholarship.

Inner Grace dance studio choreographed and taught the flash dance, which girls performed to the tune of "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson. Over 50 girls and women participated in the dance and the 2-mile march afterwards.

Paskalides organized a raffle for various prizes, including the grand prize of a new iPad. The winner of the iPad was .

"We're also collecting gift cards for them at Lafayette [Avenue School]," Paskalides said.