Being raised by a single mom who struggled to put food on our table, I was raised with food stamps, WIC, and monthly trips to the Country Kitchen bread store to by the day-old bread at a discount to put in the freezer. I felt ashamed in school standing in line with my free hot lunch ticket when my friends got to purchase their lunches. When I started working after college, I've worked at least three jobs simultaneously my entire life so that I never had to go without. I became a foodie and have been a hunger activist for over 25 years, well before pageantry. When I was scouted for my first pageant just over 10 years ago, I vowed to help as many families as I could with filling their cupboards and putting food on their tables. As an Ambassador for the Good Shepherd Food Bank here in Maine and Feeding America, I've been on a mission to end hunger in our country having traveled to 37 states on my way to all 50 working at food banks. Through my relationship with global entities like FEBA, To Cry for Grace, Heiffer International, and the Global Food Banking Network, I've also traveled to 17 countries on my mission to end hunger.
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Still She Rose is a wellness program for leaders, women and teens in the pageant industry. Funded by the B4ACUSA Foundation, wellness program initiatives are open to all pageant community members.
The ROSE is symbolic of the spirit that grows within each of us when proper care and attention is applied.
Together, we can encourage wellness through self care, positive body image, renewed self esteem and affirmation of one's identity beyond pageantry. We aim to engage in a conversation of support, honesty, reflection and awareness, in order to promote wellness as the foundation of the pageant industry.
Because each of us can say, She Struggled; and Still She Rose.
