Hilary Gushwa, 25, a Camarillo resident and Miss Santa Barbara International, was crowned Miss California International 2009 at the pageant state finals on Aug. 10. This was her fourth consecutive year of competition.

Gushwa will use her title to promote Heart2Heart, a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 which registers bone marrow donors for leukemia patients.

Gushwa is founder and president of Heart2Heart. In 2007, she received the Call to Service Award by President George W. Bush for her dedication to community service over the past nine years.

At age 16, she was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, an abnormally fast heart rhythm. Since being diagnosed, Gushwa has had three treatments in an effort to stop the arrhythmia. All of the surgeries were considered unsuccessful.

Gushwa will make appearances with local chapters of the American Heart Association and the Go Red movement on behalf of the California International Pageants, an alliance that was formed with the International Pageant Organization.

Gushwa is a student at Cal State Northridge majoring in anthropology. She will travel to Chicago, Ill., next July as the state delegate from California to compete for the title of Miss International 2009.

The Miss California International Pageant is an official state preliminary to the Miss International Pageant, a division of Mrs. International Pageant Inc., and is independently produced by Peterson Productions Inc. of Apple Valley, Calif.