National Volunteer Week

April 19th-25th is National Volunteer Week!

I want to take this time to thank all the Volunteers across not just here in the US but all over the world, for their service and dedication to the people who inhabit this earth! It is because of these people, that not only are making a difference themselves but teaching others they have the power to make a difference as well, that this world is a better place. Thank you Volunteers for all your hard work!

As National Volunteer Week and Celebrating the actions of Volunteers begins, I will be traveling to our nation's capital of Washington, DC to help honor some very special volunteers! Hands on Network and Points of Light Institute has asked me to be a part of the Extra Mile Ceremony on Wednesday April 22, to help induct nominees as well as attend the reception on Capitol Hill to honor special senators for their part in the Service America Act, that evening. I am so honored to be a part of the Volunteer Center, representing Greensboro and North Carolina in Volunteer Efforts as well as their national affiliate The Hands on Network and their international affiliate Points of Light. We need to continue helping people become "points of light in their communities," to help the success of volunteer efforts throughtout the world!

Thank you again to all the volunteers! Help Celebrate National Volunteer Week by logging on to the Hands on Network website and downloading the Celebrate Volunteers Toolkit!

Walk for WIshes****

Saturday April 18, 2009
WALK FOR WISHES for Make-A-Wish Foundation
This early Saturday morning I got up to walk for wishes with this fantastic non profit determined to make wishes come true for local children in the central NC area! The central chapter has made over 2,000 wishes come true since Dr. Jerry Clark founded it in 1980. Now his daughter Cameron runs the walk! There were big teams and small teams, families and school sororities/fraternities that came out to Profilific Park in Northwest Greensboro! Registration began at 9am, and I helped my friend Susan and some of her sorority sisters and their mothers sell raffle tickets to benefit the organization and the wishes for the kids! Starbucks coffee was out there, and provided gift bags for the raffle! Ruth Chris also gave a gift certificate, along with over 35 other raffle items donated to the Walk! Carrabba’s Italian grill made lunch after the walk! And football Super bowl star Ricky Proell even stopped by to say hello! The walk was fantastic, and it was nice to meet new people and see the volunteers! I drew numbers for the raffle as well, and we all even got the privilege of hearing the touching stories of the Wish children and their families! (I have some pictures with them in the blue “wish family” shirts) It was such a blessing to hear their stories and their wishes come true! I had a wonderful time and it was an honor to work with the Make-A-Wish team and the families who have been so blessed by the wishes they have been granted! Stay tuned to the upcoming events with Make-A-Wish…next event: Celebrities Serving the Community: local restaurants and local celebrities serve dinner and proceeds go directly to making a wish come true! Annual wishes from Central chapter in NC- about 220!

Walking for Wishes!

WALK FOR WISHES*** Make A Wish Foundation

At a walk for Wishes....with Don, the leader of the Central Chapter and some other friends I made while selling Raffle Tickets!!

Close to the start of the Walk!!!

The Sorority for UNCG with their Mothers Walking for Wishes!

The lovely Susan and I!!!!

Corporate Volunteer Council Meeting at the VC

Friday April 17th, 2009
I attended my first CVC meeting at the Volunteer Center of Greensboro, as a spokesperson for the Volunteer Center. It was from 12-1 Friday afternoon, and we met with Corporate Volunteer Programs who sit on a council to help come together with ideas of giving back to their communities through their companies and employees. It was great to hear their ideas, as well as hear some newer non-profits share their work in the community. We heard from the “handy capable” non-profit which aims to put a “mouse in every house,” and works with handicapped citizens in the area to work with refurbishing old and donated computers to kids who cannot afford to have one in their homes. They are having a donation drive at Earth Fare on Sunday of this weekend…I am going to try and make it out to see their progress as a participating non-profit with the Volunteer Center! We also heard from Heather with a non-profit called Heartstrings; this is a one of a kind organization that was founded by a husband and wife team who lost their twin boys 2 days after they were born. When they realized there wasn’t really any help outside of hospital help for them to grieve to and seek comfort they began Heartstrings. Now heartstrings offers comfort to mothers all over the world (NC to China and more) who have lost a child during the pregnancy and through 1 year old. They train people in all states to help comfort a mother of a lost child. And for those who are in the local area, they have a special ceremony at Hospice to honor the life lost of the babies by placing stepping stones in a beautiful outdoor garden. It was wonderful to hear these stories and meet these people that are working in our communities and dedicated to making this world a better place. These non profit organizations really depend on the volunteer center to help them, help others. It was truly a wonderful meeting, and at the close I reminded them all that the week of April 19th-25th was National Volunteer Week, so don’t forget to thank your volunteers for making a difference and showing others they too have the power to make a difference! We were also able to get 2 new silent auction items donated for Tuesday nights Volunteer Center Recognition Dinner! A special thanks to PEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC for a free Pest Control Service valued at $125.00 and to 1618 WEST SEAFOOD for the Gift Certificate to eat at that great restaurant! Thank you for helping the Volunteer Center makes a difference in North Carolina!

**Easter Egg Hunt**

EASTER EGG HUNT
After our DIVAS trip, I headed over to a neighborhood where a family friend was throwing a HUGE Easter Egg Hunt for all to come and join! This was an Easter egg hunt like I have never seen! They had all kinds of games, and slides and blow-up moon walks, they had a train ride set up (with a fabulous conductor I might add) as well as horse and pony rides!!!!! Lunch was served after the egg hunt and prizes! We had a great lunch; I took a train ride and even rode the pony!!! But the best part about the egg hunt was all the little kids having the time of their lives! Thank you to the family who every year continues to put this on with love in their hearts and a joy in giving back! That is what my platform is all about, making a difference! I saw the difference that this event had on the lives of children and their parents, and knowing that people still did good things for others out of the goodness of their hearts!
Happy Easter Everyone!

Myself and The Easter Bunny, with my close friend Mandy who helped with the Egg Hunt!!!

Pictures from Easter Weekend! DIVAS Boutique

DIVAS BOUTIQUE

4-11-2009
DIVAS BOUTIQUE with the QUEENS
This Saturday morning LaDaria, Christina, and I met our director Joy and the wonderful ladies at DIVAS (a North Carolina International Pageant Sponsor) to look at their gown selection, their suits, and appearance dresses for various events we might have throughout our year as the reigning NC International title holders! We had a great time together, shopping and laughing! We found some great stuff to take with us on our journey to MISS, TEEN and MRS INTERNATIONAL 2009! We even had time to film a short video on our trip!

More Pictures from FALKENER ELE!

My "Little" James

Kelly and one of the 1st grade students!

Myself with the wonderful Mrs. Benton-Brown!

James and I!!!! He was so surprised to see me as Miss North Carolina for the 1st time!

Happy Easter Weekend***

With the owners of PAPARAZZI in GSO, I found lots of great outfits to take with me to MISS INTERNATIONAL at their store!

A picture of myself with Mrs. Benton-Brown's classroom!

Passing out Easter Candy!

The Surprise!!!!!

My sister with the Ducks!!!

Happy Easter Weekend!
4-10-2009
Surprise Easter Celebration at Falkener Elementary School with my Little Brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program!

I had told my “little’s” teacher about my title of Miss NC, and she had told me that her class, along with James, would love to see me in my crown and sash!! So, my mom, Sister Kelly (home from Alabama—she brought us baby ducks!) and I went to Mrs. Benton-Brown’s first grade classroom and took her students (including my little brother James) Easter candy! I got to tell the class about my work with the Volunteer Center and working with non-profits like big brothers/big sisters where I got to do fun things, such as mentor great kids like James! The 25 students were thrilled to get the candy and learn about what I was doing, and the girls loved my crown =)
We took some great pictures, ate some good candy and then let them get back to work!

Meanwhile, we continued to play with the baby ducks that my sister brought home from her home in Alabama, where she attends the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa! Roll tide! It was great to have her home over the holiday! (I included pictures of the ducks “Bonnie and Clyde”)

More Pictures from Cora's Talent Show!

The Beautiful Little Queens!

Christina's Brother Derek with his "Kisses for Cora" shirt in loving memory of his sister!

Morgan Kivett, Myself and Paige!

*A Benefit for CORA*

The Beautiful Christina, Miss Teen NC!

The MC's of the Talent Show


Christina's Brother teaching me to do the SALSA!

Singing for Cora!

Cora’s Benefit Talent Show and Hot Dog Dinner
4/4/2009
Christina and I headed out to high point, NC to attend a benefit talent show helping medical costs on Christina’s family after the passing of her 3 year old sister from cancer. It began at about 5pm at their church, and many young people performed their talents in front of a crowd of about 200 people. Among the singers, I was one of them! I was told the Little Mermaid was one of Cora Bell’s favorite movies, so I sang Part of Your World in dedication to Cora and her memory! I also told everyone how lucky I am to have Christina and her family in my life! I am so proud of my Teen Sister Queen, she got up and talked to the crowd in front of all her friends and family in spite of her tears, and she, her family, and her late sister will serve as an inspiration to all of us with their courage and love! I also got to see her brother Derek do a salsa dance with one of the MC’s and it was fantastic! All together the friends of theirs who put on this benefit raised about $1,000 dollars to help alleviate some of the medical costs they had. More importantly with all the love and support for this family during such a hard time was one of the best outcomes of this evening! Thank you Christina for asking me to be a part of this!

Our State Sponsor Secret Tea Room Event*

Eating lunch with the editor of the Guilford Woman!

Our Sponsor, the Owner of the Secret Tea Room in GSO, NC Gayle!

4/4/2009 Purse-anlly Yours at the Secret Tea Room
Christina, Miss Teen NC, and I came to the tea room in Greensboro NC for a special event that our state sponsor asked us to attend as a special guest! She graciously donated half her proceeds from lunch to Christina’s sister’s memorial fund! She also introduced us to the editor of the Guilford Woman, and she wants to feature Christina and I in one of her issues! We were served a lovely lunch and the Tea Room, and Gayle was wonderful to us! Our time at the tea room was great, and she had some cute stuff!!! We told the entire guest at the tea room about our platform and how they can get involved! After the Tea Room, we made a special stop by Little Black Dress to support their promotion for Giving Girls a Prom Dress with Goodwill Industries in Greensboro!

MORE PICTURES FROM SPRING GAMES WITH SONC

My New Friends at the SONC!

Myself with Missy, the Chair of the Oyster Roast for Family Services of Greensboro!

They did such a fantastic job of winning the Gold!!! Congrats to all the competitors who competed at AHA for the Spring Games!