National Pancake Day!

I bet you didn't know there was such a thing, did you?! But there is! Each year, IHOP sponsors National Pancake Day which is a day dedicated solely to raising funds for the Children's Miracle Network, which just so happens to be the Miss America Organization's national platform. For an entire day, IHOPs all around the country give away free pancakes with the hopes that those eating at their restaurant will donate money to CMN.

I got the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at the IHOP in Lincoln at 27th and Superior. For the evening, I greeted guests at the door, talked to them about the meaning behind National Pancake Day, and ended up making some great friends, too. You would not believe the generosity that poured out from the Lincoln community. Almost every single person that came into the restaurant donated money to the Children's Miracle Network.

One lady in particular will forever remain in my memory of that night. She shared with me that her husband passed away about two months ago and it was always his dream to donate his organs/tissues to a child through the Children's Miracle Network. He got his wish as his family just received a letter from the Nebraska Organ Recovery System saying that his organs and tissues were donated to 60 recipients of many ages. As this amazing woman shared his story with me, she didn't even realize that organ and tissue donation is my personal platform. When I shared this with her, we were both stunned at how ironic it was! She told me she was so proud that I was raising awareness about CMN as well as organ donation, and thanked me from the bottom of her heart. It's amazing how many people you can connect with and how many inspiring stories you can hear by doing something as simple standing at the IHOP entrance. That, to me, is truly what being a titleholder is all about.

Update!

Wow! So much has happened since I last updated. I think I need to make this updating a more frequent occurrence, otherwise my posts are going to be novels. So let's begin... :)

In January, I was asked to model jewelry at the Lux Art Center in Lincoln. All of the jewelry was handcrafted and absolutely beautiful! A few of my Gamma Phi sorority sisters helped me out with the event. We had a great time while we raised money for the arts!


Later on that weekend, Brittany Jeffers, Miss Douglas County, Michelle Alvarado, Miss South East, and I went up to North Platte to Ashley Bauer's (Miss Nebraska!) send off party before she was whisked away to Miss America! We also got a sneak preview of her attire and talent, which were both wonderful. Seeing her got all of us even more excited to make the trek to Las Vegas to watch her compete...which brings me to my next exciting event....


VEGAS! I, as well as many of the local titleholders for Nebraska, got the amazing opportunity to go to the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas. It was an absolutely phenomenal experience. Not only was it a great week of learning, but it also made me get even more excited to compete in June! We girls really got to know each other, shopped more than we should have, and had a blast.
While in Las Vegas, I took a short day trip over to Los Angeles to meet with Michael Dar, a fabulous photographer. After a semi-nerve wracking taxi ride (the cab driver was just about as stumped as I was as to how to get to the studio!), I finally arrived and we had so much fun taking some new, fresh head shots, as well as some other fashionable photos. I felt like a celebrity for the day! I was extremely happy with the results and would recommend him to anyone.



I think that concludes my busy January! I know I forgot a few things, but that happens when you have a lot to catch up on! I hope you all are having a fabulous winter and that you're staying WARM! :) God Bless and I will hopefully post again soon!

My Trip to the Lake...

Well, I have to say that my visit to Lake Zorinsky in Omaha was anything but normal...

On December 8, the Special Olympics in Nebraska held their annual "Polar Bear Plunge" event. I think the name explains it all! Brook Burianek, Douglas County's Outstanding Teen, and I made up the Queen's Team that kicked off this very "cool" fund raiser! We were instructed to wear our evening gown, tennis shoes, and our crown and then take the plunge into the lake! Oh yeah, and did I mention that it was a mere 9 DEGREES outside?! They actually had to break the ice on the lake in the area where the plunge took place. Needless to say, I knew it would be cold, but little did I know how cold it would actually be! My shoes actually froze to my feet so my mom and I had an interesting time getting those tennies off! Despite the cold, it was a fun, memorable, and exciting experience!

Brook and I were the first two plungers out of nearly 250! Approximately $45,000 was raised for this wonderful organization. I was quite honored to be a part of it, even if it meant being a little chilly for a while. I hope to be able to take the big plunge again next year. If you are interested in plunging next year, start getting a fun team together and begin warming those feet!!

I want to wish you all Happy Holidays!! I hope you are enjoying this time with family and friends, relaxing, eating fabulous food, and staying warm!! :)

A visit to Omaha Chidren's Hospital

As some of you may know, the Miss America Organization recently joined forces with the Children's Miracle Network and CMN is now MAO's national platform. Thus, all of the contestants in the Miss America system are, in a sense, ambassadors for the network.

Brittany Jeffers, Miss Douglas County 2008, and I had a chance to go visit the Omaha Children's Hospital. There we met up with Alyssa, who is the CMN representative at Children's. She, as well as another staff member from the hospital, let Brittany and I make visits to many childrens' rooms and we sure had fun! Not only did we get to know many of the children staying at the hospital, we also got a chance to visit with their families, which was really encouraging. We signed autographs, took pictures, and more importantly, we got a chance to just sit down and talk with many of these amazing, courageous, and admirable children. It was truly the highlight of my Thanksgiving weekend.

Please keep the children (and families) working with CMN, and particularly those at Omaha's Children's Hospital, in your thoughts and prayers, especially during this holiday season. May we be continually reminded how valuable and precious life is, and continue to embrace each and every day! These brave children can truly be an inspiration to all of us and I can not wait until I get the exciting opportunity to go back up to Omaha and see them again!

Brittany and I with one of our new friends!

Heartland Latino Leadership Conference

On Friday, I got the opportunity to attend the Heartland Latino Leadership Conference as an exhibitor for the Nebraska Organ and Tissue Donation Coalition. What a great experience! I was so amazed at the spirit, energy, and excitement from those attending the conference. It was so encouraging to be around a group of people who are so eager to learn.

I got the opportunity to discuss organ donation with many people who stopped by our booth. I was able to share a little bit about why organ and tissue donation is important to me and I had the chance to answer many questions from curious attendees. These ranged from questions about the religious views on organ donation, to the process of a cornea transplant, to questions about how to sign up as a donor! It is always so uplifting to be a part of helping people learn about this truly amazing gift.

According to donatelife.net, there are many multicultural issues facing organ donation. On their website they state, "More than half of the national transplant waiting list is made up of multicultural populations. That's because some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas and liver that are best treated through transplantation are found more frequently in these populations." They also state that "although it is possible for a candidate to match a donor from another racial or ethnic group, transplant success rates increase when organs are matched between members of the same ethnic background." Thus, it is very important for us to target multicultural populations in order to increase the donor registry so that more organs will be available for transplantation in these types of cases.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Heartland Latino Leadership Conference and I hope that I will be able to go back next year and share about the Gift of Life with even more conference goers!