In an interview with The Roanoke Times 18 years ago, Tai Collins said she wanted to be remembered for doing good deeds, not for the political scandal that surrounded her alleged affair with then-U.S. Senator Chuck Robb.

Maybe Virginians have never been able to shake the association, but Collins, a Roanoke native, doesn't dwell on it. She went on to become a successful screenwriter in Los Angeles and started a charity for disadvantaged youth called A Chance for Children Foundation.

On Monday, Collins' charity is expected to win a "Lend a Hand" award from Al Roker on the "Today" show. The awards aim to boost struggling charities with the money and supplies they need to keep helping their communities.

A spokeswoman for "Today," Megan Kopf, declined to confirm that A Chance for Children would receive an award Monday, saying "we keep the charities that we are visiting top secret because our goal is to surprise all the volunteers that help out at the charity."

But both Collins, 46, and charity success story Chris Terry said they had been asked to show up on Monday to receive an award. Terry said he has already been interviewed by "Today" for the segment.

Tai (rhymes with "day") Collins first gained notoriety in 1991 when she went on NBC's "Expose" and claimed to have had a 10-month affair with Robb while he was governor of Virginia during the 1980s. Robb denied the affair, saying only that the former Miss Virginia-USA had given him a nude massage in his hotel suite.

But the scandal came at a time when Robb, who was married to Lynda Bird Johnson and thought to be a future presidential contender, was already fighting off rumors that he had attended wild parties in Virginia Beach while he was governor.

Collins went on to pose nude for Playboy magazine and moved to California to pursue an acting career. While there, she starred in the hit series "Baywatch" and wrote nine episodes.

Collins and "Baywatch" creator Gregory Bonann started the charity in 1992. It began as "Camp Baywatch," a chance for underprivileged children to spend time at the beach, learning about swimming and water safety.

The charity was later renamed and expanded to include a variety of camps and after-school programs for homeless and at-risk youth.

Collins said thousands of children have been helped through the program. About a dozen, including Terry, have been given the chance to attend college.

Terry was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, where gangs rule the streets. But an invitation to the charity's summer camp at Pepperdine University when he was 10 years old changed his life. Last week, he graduated from Community Harvest Charter School in Sherman Oaks, Calif., with a full academic scholarship to Pepperdine and a spot on the baseball team.

He dreams of becoming a major league baseball player and returning to South Central to help children and the foundation.

"Without the camp and baseball," he said, "I would most likely be running the streets with the other guys out there."

Collins says her own difficult childhood was brightened by a special neighbor and mother figure, Margaret East. She credits East, now 77 and still living in Roanoke, with making her want to help children.

"It has been a struggle for her whole family her whole life and she has never let that dampen her perseverance," said East, who keeps in touch with Collins. "To me, she talks about me being an inspiration to her, [but] she has been an inspiration to me."

Collins was reluctant to see her achievement make the news in Roanoke for fear that her past would be dredged up again. She said she was unfairly "labeled" just like the children her foundation aims to help.

"I made a mistake when I was 19, and it is sad to be labeled for that for so long," she said. "They always pull up that bad stuff, but the bulk of my life has been serving people and children."

"That's what I'm proud of and that's who I am."