Miss Winter Park (Weeks 12 and 13)

On Sunday, May 15th, my sister queens and I hosted a breakfast at the Ronald McDonald House in Orlando. I had so much fun spending time with my sister queens. I even made my first Mickey Mouse pancake! Hehe...

The following weekend, May 21st and 22nd, my sister, mom, and I attended the Miss Florida and Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen orientation. I was so excited to see all of my friends and to hear about everything that competition week has in store for us! The night of the 21st, Miss Florida and Miss Florida OT hosted a slumber party where we would have a pajama contest. My sister and I wore matching teddy bear, drop bottom, footie pajamas...that my family and I bedazzled! Haha! We got the chance to parade in our p.j.'s and we were ecstatic to hear that we won an award for best team pajamas! This orientation was one of the best that I had ever been too! I can't wait till Miss Florida week is finally here!!!

Miss Winter Park (Week 11)

On Tuesday May 3rd, my mom and I drove to Tallahassee for a meeting that I had scheduled with the Secretary of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Community of a Lifetime Initiative. Although it was a four hour drive, the time seemed to go by quickly! it's always that way when Mom's in the car...who doesn't love girl talk?! I had never been to Tallahassee so it was extremely exciting for me to be in our capital!

During the meeting I introduced C.A.R.E. Inc. and shared my ideas and hopes for the organization. The secretary and chief of the Department, Charles Corley and Larry Baxter, were present at the meeting. Zsa Zsa Fitzpatrick from the Community of a Lifetime Initiative was also present. They were so pleased to hear about all the work that I have done with my organization and shared many ideas that they had for its growth. I am very excited about the future of C.A.R.E. Inc.!

The ride home was not bad at all...again...thank goodnesss for mom!

The following day I volunteered at the Greater Orlando CMN Offices. I always have a blast when I am there :-)

Friday, May 6th, I went to Trinity Preparatory Middle School to speak with their volunteer organization called The Builder's Club. I was asked to speak about C.A.R.E. Inc. and about the importance of volunteering. When I first arrived, I was overwhelmed by the amount of C.A.R.E. Cozies, that I spotted in the corner of the room. Not only were there much more than I expected, but the colors were so vibrant!

I shared with the kids how I developed C.A.R.E. Inc. and about gave them more information on the C.A.R.E. Cozy project. I also expressed to them how important it is to volunteer and that no matter how young they are...they can ALSO turn a passion into action...like I had done with C.A.R.E. After I spoke with the kids, they presented their C.A.R.E. Cozies to me. Then Lynn Wilbur, the director of the club shared with me that the fleece that was donated by one of the members of the club.

The young lady's mother had passed away several years ago due to cancer and the fleece had belonged to her mother. Her mother's hope was to make blankets for a cause dear to her heart. The young lady and I decided that for every C.A.R.E. Cozy they had made, we would iron on not only, our official C.A.R.E. patch but also a butterfly patch in remembrance of her mom.