Happy Thanksgiving!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and yummy Thanksgiving!! Hope the holiday surrounds you with wonderful memories, family and friends.

Food Share: Tackling Hunger!

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Today was the Kick-Off for the 2008 Holiday food drive season! Food Share of Ventura County has teamed up with Vons grocery store and PODS across the county to tackle hunger. Vons started the food drive by donating $60,000 in non-perishable foods, which is an incredible contribution. The goal of Food Share is to get 250,000 lbs. of food donated. In attendance was NFL mom Berna Colbert, local press, and radio station B95.1 with Bo Jackson....so cool!

Food Share will be hosting a joint food and bone marrow drive for Heart2Heart in December...more info to come on that! To make a donation online or to read more about how you can help please visit: http://www.foodshare.com

Bakersfield Pageants

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Tonight I had the honor of judging the Teen, Miss, and Mrs. Bakersfield Pageants. The pageant had 34 wonderful contestants, and every single contestant brought something unique to the table. The director, Gayle Tape, really puts on a fabulous production. Not only did the show run smooth, but the contestants were certainly prepared to put their best foot forward! Gayle and her production team really outdid themselves this year.

Many awards were handed out including Miss Congeniality, Photogenic, Interview winner, and Fitness Winner. Here are the final results!

Miss Teen Bakersfield (also Fitness winner): Erica George
Miss Bakersfield (also Interview winner): Angelica August
Mrs. Bakersfield (also Interview winner): Rhenana Grimes

I met so many kind-hearted people at this pageant, including fellow judges and Miss California International hopefuls. I truly felt that I walked away with new friends, and new opportunities. Seeing some old pageant friends was fun as well! Congratulations to the new Teen, Miss, and Mrs. Bakersfield!!!

http://www.thebakersfieldpageant.com

Empower2Purpose "Girl Power" Conference

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First I'd like to say I can't believe it's November already! Today was definitely the first sign that fall was here....it rained all day! Even though I miss the warm weather, Southern California definitely needed some wet weather.

Today I was a featured speaker at the Empower2Purpose "Girl Power" Conference. The seminar had the theme of inspiring girls to go after their dreams; teaching them to be assertive, in control of their destiny, and community minded. I spoke during the dinner portion of the day! I really enjoyed talking about how I've gone after my own dreams, the obstacles I've overcome, and my plans for the future. I had such a wonderful time talking to the girls in attendance one-on-one, and I hope my words inspired them to make their own dreams come true! The founder of Empower2Purpose, Tamala Kelly, presented myself and the other speakers with GORGEOUS flowers and a commemorative award for attending "Girl Power." That was so unexpected and very thoughtful!

Empower2Purpose is truly an incredible organization. I found their mission statement so relevant to what girls today need, and that Empower2Purpose really takes into account what each and every girl has to say. Thank you so much for a wonderful day, it was something I will remember for a long time to come. For more information, or to make a donation to them, please visit: http://www.empower2purpose.com