Eastside Family Makes Top 10 in Patch and Heidi Klum Costume Contest

A cute and imaginative image taken by Kirkland’s Kate Kolesar of her twin daughters in Ewok costumes has been selected as one of 10 finalists in Patch’s nationwide Halloween photo contest.

The grand prize went to Jack Hagan's costume of a headless boy which was uploaded to Wyckoff Patch in New Jersey.

But as one of 10 finalists chosen from those entered on more than 850 Patch sites across America, the Kolesar photo earns a donation of $1,031 to the charity of Kate's choice, the Neema Foundation, a program that raises money to help educate kids in Tanzania.

"That's wonderful," said Kolesar, who lives in the Totem Lake area. "The girls are all excited because I'm excited."

Kate used teddy bear oufits and made the Ewok headdresses herself -- Ewoks are characters from the Stars Wars films, by the way -- and then posed the kids in the forest of Redmond's .

"Our family is Star Wars heavy," she explained. "The girls (Grace, left, and  Clare) are two-and-a-half, so they don't really know about Stars Wars and Ewoks."

The Kirkland-based Neema Foundation is an effort to empower the children of Tanzania through education and access to technology. It was created by Kate's best friend, Katie Perez, a longtime Microsoft program manager and also a Kirkland resident.

"She's an amazing girl, very active around Kirkland, and she started this program" after a visit to Tanzania, Kolesar said. "She met a little girl named Neema and just fell in love."

Meantime, the grand prize winner of the Patch contest was selected by supermodel Heidi Klum, earning the winners a three-day, two-night trip for two to New York or Los Angeles, including a meet and greet with Heidi, plus a donation of $1,031 to a local charity of their choice. Be sure to support Heidi Klum’s efforts to feed the hungry. Visit Trick or Treat for UNICEF! And find more of Heidi’s Halloween favorites at heidiklum.aol.com.

Kirkland Patch would like to thank the Kolesar family -- congratulations Kate, Clare and Grace!

Patch Costume Contest Winners

• Fort Stewart Patch My Little Mermaid
• Acworth Patch Felicity Schartok, 8, Little Red Riding Hood
• Wyckoff Patch Headless Boy Jack Hagan
• Ridgefield Patch Claire Tannian (9 years)—Albert Einstein
• Danvers Patch Saoirse Fitzgerald—Uncle Fester
• Windham Patch Alex H. Lertpatthanakul -- Transformer
• Kirkland Patch.
• Redondo Beach Patch Homemade Snail Costume
• St. Charles Patch 10 Foot Tall Guy Costume
• Darien, IL Patch KISS Kids