the – Matt Leverton’s National American Miss (NAM) Pageants Blog

2015 Miss North Carolina Pre-Teen Jessica Johnson attended the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir, honoring those killed at Mother Emanuel Church.

Miss North Carolina Pre-Teen-Jessica Johnson volunteering at Emanuel AME Church Benefit Concert luncheon 2015 Miss North Carolina Pre-Teen Jessica Johnson attended the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir and Spiritual’s performance of the special concert honoring the nine people killed at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, SC. Jessica was instrumental in helping serve lunches to the volunteer choir and musicians prior to the concert. They served about 120 people and Jessica performed duties that involved food service and clean up with her friendly, sweet smile and ease of discussing different topics with our performers. At the appointed time, Jessica stood at the front door with the head usher, welcoming attendees to this very special and somber concert. Her presence and smiles provided such special qualities to those entering the church: hope for the future, welcoming as only a child can do with innocence and love. Jessica added such a specialness to this concert. Jessica performed these tasks with ease and comfort and great poise. She took direction well, understanding immediately what was being asked of her. Choir members, musicians and those attending the concert, were so taken with her. Jessica provided some salve to the wounds of the people of Charleston, something she didn’t even realize she did. The Choir was very grateful to this beautiful young lady and wish her great success in her future endeavors.

Miss South Carolina Teen Hunter Vaughn helps the Woman’s Enrichment Center of Lancaster.

Hunter Hunter2 Hunter3 Miss South Carolina Teen Hunter Vaughn helps the Woman’s Enrichment Center of Lancaster. Hunter
used part of her winnings to purchase items for the Woman’s Enrichment Center of Lancaster. The Women’s Enrichment Center ministry provides a safe and caring environment for women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy. They offer practical alternatives to abortion and support the sanctity of human life. They educate clients on all options available to them. They also offer referrals for continued education and job assistance. All services are FREE and confidential. The Women’s Enrichment Center is funded by the generous contributions of churches, individuals, businesses, fundraising events and grants.

Gabrielle Buchan, Miss Georgia Jr. Teen, participated in “Stuff the Bus.”

Gabrielle Buchan, Miss Georgia Jr. Teen, participated in “Stuff the Bus.” Gabrielle was able to spend some time with Dawsonville’s Family Connections at the “Stuff The Bus” event donating school supplies for local families. On this certain day, buses were parked at Walmart throughout the great state of Georgia collecting the items. Gabrielle was able to meet and connect with many people in her own county helping donate to this great cause. Glad National American Miss could be a part of it!

Amaris Shipman, Miss North Carolina Jr. Pre-Teen, participated in Stuff the Bus!

Amaris Shipman, Miss North Carolina Jr. Pre-Teen, participated in Stuff the Bus! This event is organized by the Cumberland County Social workers. Stuff the Bus is held to assist children with getting school supplies.

Spencer Petty, Miss Tennessee Teen, brings the Miss Amazing Pageant to Tennessee!

Spencer Petty, Miss Tennessee Teen and Director, of an inspiring 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Tennessee Miss Amazing Pageant. The mission of the Miss Amazing Pageant TM is to provide opportunities for girls and young women with disabilities to raise self-confidence through the skills learned in pageantry in a supportive environment. Even though this organization had been around since 2007 in 20 other states, it had not been held in Tennessee. So Spencer brought the first Miss Amazing pageant for the young ladies with disabilities in Tennessee on Saturday, Jan 3 and Sunday, Jan 4, 2015. After competing in National American Miss pageants for nine years she knew what pageants had done for her in increasing her confidence and she wanted to offer this same experience to young ladies with disabilities. They successfully reached their goal for the first year by:

registering 15 young ladies to participate
received over 500 “likes” on facebook
recruited 40 volunteers to help (Miss Amazing Pageants are run 100% with only volunteers)
secured over $10,000 of sponsor donations
collected 66 lbs of canned goods to donate to food bank (entry fee is 5 cans of food) and
increased the confidence of the young ladies that were given a chance to
- walk on stage and introduce themselves to the packed house of 150 family and friends
- interview one-on-one with three judges and
- learn how to be poised and graceful during evening gown.

When the weekend started they met timid and unsure young ladies that required much assistance but by the finale show they bravely executed each component without any assistance. Every participant is crowned a Princess and receives a trophy for their bravery and effort. We crowned the five age division Queens for Tennessee and they will be representing our state at the National Miss Amazing Pageant to be held in Los Angeles at the same time the Special Olympics World Games will be there in July, 2015. The Miss Amazing PageantTM is now in almost thirty states and has donated around $50,000 and 1,000 pounds of food to community organizations across the nation.

They were also featured in the Tennessean, check out the article here!

http://tnne.ws/1By3jSV

Miss Oregon Royalty volunteered at Race For The Cure!

Miss Oregon Royalty volunteered at Race For The Cure! The Oregon queens got together to support and cheer on breast cancer survivors and their families at Race For The Cure. They had an incredible day and were so happy to be there and cheering on the racers.

Lexie Spooner, Miss South Carolina, Jr. Pre-Teen, was featured in 2 local papers!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE. Lexie Spooner, Miss Jr. Pre-Teen for South Carolina, organized a donation drive and bake sale for Friends of Colleton County Animal Shelter. Using Sweet Dreams, Sewn Seams and Jelli Beans as a drop off location, Spooner collected 30 rolls of paper towels, bottles of Dawn dish detergent, Clorox bleach, pet food and much more. On Saturday July 12, she held a bake sale and raised over $340 for the animals of Colleton County. Lexie, was featured in The Press & Standard and The Colletonian.

2013 Miss South Carolina Princess Jia Patel donates time to help the troops and their families.

2013 National American Miss South Carolina Princess Queen Jia Patel donates time to help the troops and their families.

When the holidays were approaching Jia Patel 2013 South Carolina Princess Queen took to heart the mission of the American Red Cross’ Holiday Mail for Heroes Campaign . This past holiday season Jia helped to host a holiday party to make cards to show gratitude towards our troops, veterans and military families. This was Jia’s second year helping to host this wonderful family event. During the holidays many of us make plans to spend times with our families and loved ones however many of our service members are unable to do this because they are overseas. The Holiday Mail for Heroes Party was a heart-warming event that got everyone into the holiday spirit! Jia enjoyed donating colored paper, stickers, markers and pens and had had even more fun making cards with her friends! A night of making cards of thanks and support to those who have made sacrifices and who have served our country was a great kick-off to the holiday season!