Page 97 - Iris Tennessee Teen Judges Book 2022

What can you do during your Tenure of Service as a Titleholder to impact your community?
To impact my community during my Tenure of Service I will appear in my sash and crown at any and all events I am able to participate in an official capacity and I will seek out local animal advocacy events. I will pet the animals and promote their adoption. I will also post and advertise adoptable pets, specifically the ones on the euthanasia list and I will work with transportation rescues to move the pets from the shelter. World peace begins with a wet nose!
What has been your involvement with your platform?
In my home town here in Jackson, Tennessee we have a high kill animal shelter and through the years of my childhood I have made it my personal mission that no pet be surrendered to a potential demise. I have personally saved four dogs from being handed over to the high kill shelter. One I found in the street by my school and I successfully reunited her with her owner in my grandparent’s neighborhood. One I found on a busy street downtown and was able to foster it until we found a private adopter. And two dogs wandered up during a snow storm last year and I fostered them until a kennel became available at our local animal care center where they were both later transported for private adoption.
What inspired you to first become involved in your platform?
My first involvement with my platform started when I was just four years old my family and adopted my dog, CC, on the day her euthanasia was scheduled.
If you are selected as the winner, how would you mobilize and market your platform nationally?
Social media is the best tool for someone my age to mobilize and market my platform nationally. I would connect with the other Miss Volunteer America Teens and I would work to exchange promoting their platforms in Tennessee in exchange for them promoting my platform in their home state. I would also use the vast networking a resources already available to me in the animal rescue community to work to move rescued pets from our high kill shelter here to other states where the animal adoption market isn’t quite as saturated.
How would you utilize social media in order to positively further your position as a titleholder if you are selected as the winner?
In addition to my official Miss Southern Iris Teen Instagram handle I will create a handle on other platforms such as TikTok, Twitter and Facebook to reach more people with my content. I will post positively about the pageant and also about my platform with adoptable animals and use social media as a way to connect!