Through my work in the pageantry world, it became natural for me to increasingly align my platform and subsequently myself with select causes in an effort to help raise awareness for organizations in need. Giving back since a very young age and wanting to continue down that path, the expansion of my outreach as Miss Boca Raton for Florida has been both fluid and gratifying.

My work with children, being a mother of 3, and a victim of bullying, led me down a natural path to champion the need for awareness when it came to such a cause.

My passion is personal.

Did you know one out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied? – National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019

  • A higher percentage of male than of female student’s report being physically bullied (6% vs. 4%), whereas a higher percentage of female than of male students reported being the subjects of rumors (18% vs. 9%) and being excluded from activities on purpose (7% vs. 4%).

 

  • 41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they think the bullying would happen again.

 

  • Of those students who reported being bullied, 13% were made fun of, called names, or insulted; 13% were the subject of rumors; 5% were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; and 5% were excluded from activities on purpose.

 

  • A slightly higher portion of female than of male student’s report being bullied at school (24% vs. 17%).

 

  • Bullied students reported that bullying occurred in the following places: the hallway or stairwell at school (43%), inside the classroom (42%), in the cafeteria (27%), outside on school grounds (22%), online or by text (15%), in the bathroom or locker room (12%), and on the school bus (8%).

 

  • 46% of bullied students report notifying an adult at school about the incident.

My work raising anti-bullying awareness is multi-faceted like the issue at hand. I work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and speak with kids and their parents, educating them on bullying – How to identify it and how to handle it while promoting the importance of kindness.

Not only do I equip kids with the necessary tools to combat bullying, but I work with parents too. Bullying effects the entire family, making my work with various parenting organizations like MOPS so very important. Awareness can lead to change and that’s what we need.

I am an advocate for Safe Kids Worldwide, a national non-profit organization. I not only volunteer at events across the country, but I further show my commitment to the cause by planning, organizing and hosting my own fundraisers to raise money and items in need for SKW. I work tirelessly with one simple goal in mind: I want to substantially increase awareness for SKW and its mission in order to decrease the number of preventable injuries in children, which is the #1 killer of children in the United States.

 

 

I have also established the CAP Challenge, which was spearheaded to compliment my work with SKW. CAP is an acronym for Concussion, Awareness and Prevention. It’s a national campaign addressing the widespread debilitating effects of concussions among student athletes. I am encouraging a baseline testing for concussions and work to equip schools across the country with concussion goggles that simulate the effects of having suffered a bump, blow or jolt to the head and I embolden you all to be #capsafe. Striving to reach above and beyond and proactively staying in touch with the community at large, I am proud to say that I have raised nearly $75,000 for both SKW and the CAP Challenge.