3 Blood Drives in One Week

Wow! My first week working with my platform as Miss Racine has been very busy. I attended 3 blood drives this week; 2 just in one day!! However, the busy schedule was well with the time spent with heroes. I attended blood drives at Johnson Financial Bank, St. Lucy's School, and Iris USA. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to share my stories, and hear other people's experiences. I had the chance to spend time with a veteran at St. Lucy's School who said that he has donated over 9 gallons of blood. What an accomplishment!

The words of encouragement and support will stay with me forever. I held the hands of many who were nervous, or it was their first time donating. The memories made and knowledge gained will stay with me forever. I look forward to my journey that still awaits me. I know that I am making a difference, and it is clearer to me know more than ever.

Miss Racine 2007

I have good news. On the 11th of November I competed for the title of Miss Rcaine 2007 and won!! At the pageant I had the opportunity to talk about my platform, Be a Hero:BDM, and the importance of blood donation. It was an honor to have Trevon and his family attend the pageant. Trevon knows on a personal level how important blood donations are, and his story is one that helps me to encourage others to donate. It is my duty to represent Racine at the Miss Wisconsin Pageant, be the Goodwill Ambassador for Racine over the next year, and continue to make an impactt on the lives of others with my platform.

In the Upcoming Days

I wanted to make you all aware of the things that I will be taking part in during the week to promote and educate others on the importance of blood donation.
On Thursday I will be traveling to Pleasant Prairie to encourage employees of Iris to take part in the blood drive that will be taking place there next week. I am challenging myself to convince individuals who have never donated their blood before to do so, and those who have donated to continue being a hero in the lives of others. Some of the things that I will be doing are telling stories that I have heard from the many people I have encountered through my involvement with the Blood Center as well as give statistics, donation information, and answer any questions that people may have.
On Saturday, I will be promoting my program Be a Hero: BDM as I compete for the title of Miss Racine 2007. All eleven contestants participating in the pageant are required to give the judges a paper that explains the issue that they plan to focus on during their year of service if selected Miss Racine as well as all of their accomplishments with their platform thus far. I want to say thank you to all of you who have helped me spread my platform Be a Hero: BDM and for all of the support you have shown to me along my journey. I hope to represent my program and make the judges see how very dedicated I am, and make the Blood Center of Wisconsin, blood transfusions recipients, and all of you very proud! I am honored to say that Trevon and his family will be attending the pageant on Saturday to support me.
I am so very grateful for the experiences that I have been blessed with, and the road that my program has taken me down. I look forward to the challenges that are ahead of me, and I will be sure to keep you all updated.
Have a great week everyone!

PS. I wanted to share this picture with all of you. This picture was taken at my dog Banche's gravesite on the one-year annivesary of his death (The puppy in my arms is Payton, our new German Shepard). For those of you who are unaware, Banche is a huge part of why the program Be a Hero: BDM was created. One year ago Banche passed away due to anemia. My family and I were told that Banche needed a full blood transfusion. I wanted to be his hero; I wanted to save his life. However, humans can not donate blood to animals. This brought the question to my mind: if people would do anything to save their pet's life, why do not more people donate blood to save other human lives?
That is one reason why Be a Hero: BDM was created, and so this picture is a reminder of what I have accomplished with my program since Banche's death. Banche may be no longer be with me physically, but he will forever live on in the hearts of those who hear his story.

Donating blood to my heroes...

On November 27th I will be traveling to Great Lakes Naval Base in IL to donate blood to my heroes...the U.S. troops. I am honored to have an opportunity such as this and can not wait to share my experience with all of you. I will keep you updated.
I think that this is a wonderful way to show my thankfulness to them!