An 18-year-old Miss Teen USA pageant competitor who overcame all odds — including childhood homelessness and an abusive mother — to start her own charity organization died in a car crash on a Florida highway on February 17.

Kadance Fredericksen, the former winner of the Miss Okaloosa County Teen USA title, was driving her sedan down Highway 4 when she collided head-on with a tractor-trailer, the Florida Highway Patrol.

Kadance was the founder of Kada’s Promise, a charitable organization dedicated to providing teddy bears and blankets to children in foster care, shelters for abuse survivors, hospitals, and those without homes. Her efforts and kindness captured the hearts of many nationwide when she launched the initiative in 2017.

In 2019, she told WEAR News that she took inspiration from her own experiences as a homeless and abused child. She was taken in by her father and adoptive mother later in life, helping pave the way for her charity and pageantry career.

“During many dark times in my early childhood, the only thing that I could call my own or that made me feel safe was a single teddy bear that I received as a gift. I carried him with me from house to house, couch to couch, and clutched him tightly in the scariest times. It is from these memories that Kada’s Promise was born,” Fredericksen wrote on the Kada’s Promise website.

Throughout her time in pageantry, Kadance earned the distinguished title for her home county. She participated in many competitions, winning titles like Little Miss Northwest Florida in 2017 and advancing to the Miss Teen Florida pageant last year.

Kadance was in her senior year at Baker School, anticipating her graduation in the upcoming months. She had plans to attend college, having just received a $40,000 scholarship for her future education a week before her unexpected passing.

Kadance was known for her generosity and desire to help others. In addition to establishing Kada’s Promise, she utilized her pageant platform to raise $25,000 for the Ronald McDonald House, aiding families with children undergoing medical treatment for serious illnesses.

In an interview with WCJB last year, she opened up about her past, saying, “When I was little, I was abused and neglected by my biological mother and stepfather. During those times, the only thing I had to call my own was a stuffed animal I received as a gift years beforehand. Now that I’m in a safe home with a safe family, I learned I wasn’t the only kid that went through that.”

The authorities are still investigating the details of the crash. The 56-year-old driver of the tractor-trailer was not arrested and sustained only minor injuries.