Page 126 - Iris Tennessee Teen Judges Book 2022

What can you do during your Tenure of Service as a Titleholder to impact your community?
As Miss Tennessee Iris Teen Volunteer, I will continue to promote the Miss Tennessee Teen Volunteer Organization at every appearance and volunteer event I attend. I will continue to raise money and donations to meet or exceed my goal of delivering Blessing Bags to over 100 families in my local hospital NICU as well as in other NICU units in hospitals across the State of Tennessee. Providing Blessing Bags for moms and dads with sick babies in the NICU filled with items representing the comforts of home bring such peace and contentment during a stressful time, and the impact upon each family I bless with a bag is immeasurable to me. It has been life changing to talk to each of the families and to have my entire community get involved with donating items and giving me Bible verses to include on the bags!
What has been your involvement with your platform, including time commitment, strategic planning and ways your ingenuity and resourcefulness have been demonstrated?
My baby brother spent time in the NICU after his birth, and my mom and I realized that moms and dads facing the stress of having a baby in NICU needed more support and love. We wanted to help reduce the stress these families, like ours, were experiencing. We came up with the idea of blessing the families with bags of essentials and treats that would bring them comfort and happiness. I decided to compile a list of helpful items to be placed in the “Blessing Bags” to be delivered to these NICU families. The items contained in my first 5 bags were gifted to me by my mom for Christmas 2021, and I delivered these bags in January of 2022 to Jackson Madison County General Hospital alongside my favorite NICU Nurse, Ms. Leslie Mansfield, who I have known all my life. This was an amazing experience and very emotional to meet with these 5 families and hand them their Blessing Bags! After we posted about the bags on Facebook, the word spread fast, and I set up two drop off locations that gathered many donations. To date I have delivered 30 bags with the help of my whole community. There is no feeling like being a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold when leaving these precious families a good variety of helpful items that make them feel special and treasured.
What inspired you to first become involved in your platform?
When I was 12 years old, my mother became pregnant with my baby brother, Jeb. We soon learned he had Spina Bifida. As a big sister, I was so worried my brother would have to have fetal surgery, but luckily his case was not severe enough to risk the surgery. Once he was born, he had to spend a week in the NICU at Vanderbilt and required a spinal surgery repair at 48 hours old. Seeing him with all the cords and medical equipment attached at just 2 days old shattered my heart. Now my baby brother, Jeb Miller, is a happy two-year-old little boy who I am so happy I get to laugh and smile with for the rest of my life. I want every mom, dad, sister, and brother to do the same, and I want to give these families support along their journey and encourage others to do the same.
If awarded the job of Miss Tennessee Volunteer, how would you mobilize and market your platform nationally?
I will share my message of how my baby brother being in NICU has affected my life, and I would encourage others to help and support mothers and fathers with babies in their local NICU; even if it's just with a hug. I will extend my Blessing Bag platform to a wider audience; gathering more donations and raising more money so that more families can be blessed with a bag of happiness in a time when they need it the most.