Day 97: Be the Match

I find irony in writing this post because the Miss WA sister featured today held the title that I was bestowed today! Meaning that the class of 2013 is complete!

Meet Daniela Ferrell, Miss Northwest 2012

What is the title of your platform?
DF:The title of my platform is "Be The Match: The Global Bone Marrow Registry"

How can others get involved with your platform?
DF: Something you could do would be to register to be a bone marrow donor (if you're feeling bold), get a friend to, or simply spread awareness.

Why did you choose this platform?
DF: I chose this platform because 5 years ago my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 Lymphoma and needed a bone marrow transplant but there were literally no matches for him in the world. Most people don't realize that the odds of finding a match is extremely slim and for the majority of patients who need a transplant, it's their last chance at life.







After doing a little more research, I found that there is a lot more to know about bone marrow transplants then most people are aware of. For example:

• There is a 35% chance that a patient will have a sibling who has a perfect match.
• This year over 130,000 people will be diagnosed with a blood disease.
• Only 2% of the population is currently on the registry
• About 1,000 people die yearly because they were not able to find a match.

It is incredible what you can learn when you take a minute to inform yourself. Now, I may not be brave enough yet to volunteer myself for needles, but I know that there are many brave souls out there! I encourage you to do your homework, see what you can learn and possibly become a donor!

God Bless,

Kailee

Day 96: Child Advocacy

I had the pleasure of getting to Jordan quite well during Miss Washington week because she was contestant #8 and I was #9. She is incredible young lady and I know she will do phenomenal things in the future.

Meet Jordan Donahue, Miss Tahoma 2012

What is the title of your platform?
JD: My platform is Children's Advocacy: Helping Abused and Neglected Kids

How can others get involved with your platform?
JD: Just being aware of how common abuse/sexual abuse is can change your perspective. My message to adults is to not be afraid to trust their gut feeling, and to always stand up for individuals who don't have a voice whether it by child, women or  the elderly just to name a few. My message to children when I go to speak is that they are not alone. I share my personal story about how I lost everything and my family fell apart, but how I chose hope. I chose not to let someone else dictate what my future would be. Every statistic says that I would be a failure and not pursue higher education. Other people can hurt us, but we can choose to not let that control us. I found comfort in dancing and I encourage children to find something they are passionate about. It can change the lives of kids who have been neglected or abused. 

How did you choose your platform?

JD: I chose my platform because it is something that is very near to my heart. I consider it my life purpose and I know it is something I will always be involved with. My younger sister was sexually abused throughout her childhood. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. This means there are more than 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in the U.S. My goal as a titleholder was to advocate for children without a voice. I work with children who have been abused, neglected and in foster care, etc. One of my main focuses during my year was getting the prevention training program "Darkness to Light" into Whatcom Community College and promoting it in my community. Every adult who receives the training can protect up to 10 children from abuse by learning the signs and what to look for. I was able to facilitate over 60 future teachers to receives this training, and as a future educator I could not have been more excited. Currently, I work with a local family support center and I speak at different events to advocate for children. This is a very difficult, emotional and draining platform to have but I would not have it any other way. I want to fight for these children who do not have a voice and talking about the difficult and uncomfortable situations is the only way to protect our children. 

You can learn a lot about Jordan's platform by doing some research. I looked more into the program Jordan had mentioned titled "Darkness to Light" and I liked the Facebook page. Their mission is simply to end child abuse. 

Then I looked at their official website and found a pledge everyone can take. You too can take the pledge by clicking here. According to the site, there are 7 steps to protecting our children. They are as follows: 1) Learn the facts, 2) Minimize opportunity, 3) Talk about it, 4) Stay alert, 5) Make a plan, 6) Act on suspisions and 6) get involved. 

God bless,

Kailee

Day 95: Explored YWCA

After this weekend, the Miss Washington class of 2013 will be complete! The final four titleholders will be crowned Sunday afternoon. Over the next few days, the last few Miss Washington sisters will be featured before they say farewell.

Meet Ramya Ramanathan, Miss Evergreen 2012

What is the title of your platform?
RR: Embracing Diversity and Empowering Women

How can others get involved with your platform?
RR: I did a lot of work with underprivileged minorities through the YWCA...You could like the YWCA page and perhaps educate or encourage others on what it is, that would be awesome!

Why did you choose this particular platform?
RR: I chose my platform because I'm passionate about empowering women and cultural awareness. I found that education was the best venue to practice this in. Being a mentor at the multicultural student let me build a lot of close relationships with at risk minorities and put them on the right track through various access programs that help first time college graduates.

After talking to Ramya, I Facebook searched and found the YWCA page. Once I 'liked' the page, I did a little more exploring. According to their page, "YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all." The YWCA has over 2 million participants and over 1,300 locations in the United States. Also, I found it interesting that they are one of the oldest and largest organizations for women and serves in over 125 countries. This is a phenomenal organization and I encourage you to do a little investigating yourself and 'like' the Facebook page.

God bless,

Kailee

Day 94: Pieces Of Hope

April is national Autism Awareness Month. For those of you who don't know, puzzle pieces serve as a symbol to represent autism awareness, very much like how the pink ribbon represents breast cancer. At the beginning of the month Broadmoor Fitness, the gym where my mom works, started their Pieces Of Hope campaign. They are selling puzzle pieces for a $1. Once you purchase a puzzle piece, you can write your name on it and it will then be put on the wall for display.

When my mom went in to work today, she picked up a few pieces for me to write my name on. Now, the pieces are on display at the gym. The donation of $5 will be donated to the Responding to Autism Center located in Kennewick. According to the flyer, 80% of families require some sort of financial assistance to access programs. If you are in Kennewick, you can drop by Broadmoor Fitness to buy a puzzle piece and donate until the end of the month. If you don't live here, I encourage you take the remainder of the month to look for opportunities to spread awareness.

God Bless,

Kailee 

Day 93: Donated PB&J

Did you know that peanut butter is the number one requested item in food banks? Either had I until the other day. The Do Something Foundation is currently running a campaign which asks participants to donate peanut butter to local food banks. Why peanut butter? According to the website, peanut butter is in high demand because it is packed with protein, it has a long shelf life (2 years) and it fits in food restrictions. Not to mention, it is delicious!

Well, once I acquired this information, I ran to the store and bought some peanut butter and jelly. I Google searched local food banks and found that their was a donation location in Cheney. This was right next door to a clothing donation location. I thought that was pretty cool and gave me a new resource for the future. Hey, you learn something new everyday! The lady at the store was very, very sweet and grateful for the donations.
    

Again, if you would like to donate something to your local food bank, I would double check donation times. There is not always someone to collect donations.

God Bless,

Kailee

Day 92: Provided A Meal For A Child

I was shopping today and found a bottle of ketchup- of all things- that caught my attention. On the bottle was a message that read "enter one code to donate one meal to Feeding America." Intrigued, I looked on the back where there surely wasa code to enter.  After reading a little more about it, I remembered a while back seeing a commercial about this and an array of other foods which donate meals to children's hunger. Other products include Pam, Orville Redenbachers, Snack Pack, and Chef Boyardee. Knowing that I could support a hungry child and that the girls and I use ketchup quite often, I couldn't help but buy the bottle. (What I should have done is taken a picture of all of the bottles and entered all of the codes ;D! )

When you enter a code to Child Hunger Ends here, ConAgra foods will donate 12.5 cents to Feeding America, which is apparently all it takes to provide a child in hunger. Now, I am going to look for other ConAgra foods that I own that may also contain a code for donating. I encourage you to do the same! Every 1 in 5 children in the U.S. don't know where their next meal is going to come from. In Spokane alone the food insecurity rate is 15.5%. Over 1.5 million people in Washington state are food insecure. Can you provide one child with their next meal?

*As in added bonus the Chid Hunger Ends Here website has two free downloadable songs that are beautiful and inspiring! Check them out!

God Bless,

Kailee

Day 91: Returned Carts Their Place

I don't know about you, but I hate when people leave grocery carts in inconvenient places. Especially, when it is windy and those inconveniently placed carts just so happen roll right into a parked car. When the weather is horrid and the snow has packed the parking lot, leaving a cart is slightly more acceptable. However, today was b-e-a-utiful and customers should have the common courtesy to return their carts.

Since I was already at the grocery store, I took a little stroll around the parking lot and returned the stray carts to their corals. Some were far from where they should have been...

while others were just a few extra steps from where they needed to be.  

The point being, take a few seconds and be polite!

God bless,

Kailee

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