Page 35 - Tennessee Teen Volunteer Judge's Book 2022

What can you do during your Tenure of Service as a Titleholder to impact your community?
I would love to use my title as Miss Tennessee Teen Volunteer to identify and fulfill needs for others throughout Tennessee. My platform, Meet the Need, focuses on identifying needs and connecting those in need with community services. I focus on food scarcity, literacy, and academic growth- all of which impacts our youth and families. I believe I can use my title to inspire volunteerism throughout the state, highlight resources for those in need, and positively impact my peers. I also plan to serve my community through volunteering. In doing so, I am showing others that one person can make a difference and volunteering is an enjoyable endeavor.
What has been your involvement with your platform? I have been involved with the Bread of Life food pantry since I was 5. This year serving in my title of Miss Tipton County Teen Volunteer, I have continued to support that organization while also highlighting and serving the other needs of my community. I have read to students to promote literacy, educational goals, and kindness with local schools. I have served the Bread of Life Food Pantry and Rise to Hunger to help those facing poverty and food scarcity. I also served by making hygiene bags for UMCOR, the humanitarian relief and development arm of the United Methodist Church.
I have also used social media and peer engagement to inspire others to get involved. I held a service project party for Valentine’s Day where my friends and I crowd sourced items to build blessing bags with food and hygiene products. We created over 50 blessing bags for the homeless. I then delivered them to Church Street United Methodist Church in Knoxville. Because of its downtown location, Church Street hosts a weekly soup kitchen lunch for those in need. I donated the blessing bags to be distributed during those lunches.
What inspired you to first become involved in your platform? The first people who inspired me to get involved in my platform were my parents. When I was 5 years old my family moved to a new church that was very mission oriented. We became involved with the Bread of Life Food Pantry at Covington First United Methodist Church. The Bread of Life Food Pantry meets weekly on Saturday mornings rotating locations throughout Tipton County. Being involved by carrying out bags really helped me grow in understanding the face of poverty and showed me that I need to serve those less fortunate. Grace Phelps was also someone who really helped me get involved in serving. Grace was in charge of outreach at our church, and she was just such a light to be around. I looked up to her because I knew that I could be that someday for someone else. Grace was the epitome of a servant’s heart throughout her community outreach. She pushed me to want to build my platform, Meet the Need, focusing on food scarcity, literacy, and promoting collage and career educational opportunities. I grew up with a group of people with servant hearts that made me want to share that with others.
If you are selected as the winner, how would you mobilize and market your platform nationally?
I would develop a blog with regular postings to highlight community service and volunteer opportunities throughout the three grand divisions of the state. I would work with community and state leaders and agencies to help identify needs and connect individuals with groups in their own areas that would provide support. I would also use video in the forms of Instagram Lives and Reels, YouTube vlog entries, and Facebook Lives and Stories to engage all audiences and amplify my exposure. To reach individuals that are not seeking information online, I will reach out to local news publications to spread my platform’s message.
How would you utilize social media in order to positively further your position as a titleholder if you are selected as the winner? I have purposely focused my social media influence on sharing positive information and providing positive interactions with peers and followers. My strategy is to share personal growth experiences, uplifting messages, service opportunities, and community resources that will help those in need. I believe the biggest problem facing my generation today is our access to the world through social media and our digital footprint. I personally love technology and social media; however, I see the negative impacts on the emotional and mental wellbeing of users. I look to individuals like Dolly Parton and Sadie Robertson who choose to use their influence for positivity as my guides. I would seek guidance from social media experts and my state pageant directors to use the best strategies to amplify my exposure and spread my platform’s message. I would develop a strategy for posting regularly and use hashtags and collaborations with other positive influencers to grow my following and spread my message.