Kids Making miracles
Mr. & Miss gervais pageant for doernbecher children's hospital
My name is Ashley Bond, and for my senior capstone at Portland State University I am volunteering with the Mr. and Miss Gervais Pageant for Doernbecher Children's Hospital. I have been working with Kids Making Miracles (KMM) and the Mr. and Miss Gervais Pageant since I was a sophomore at Gervais High School in 2015. During my junior year I was one of the coordinators and emcee's for the pageant, and my senior year I was nominated to be a contestant in the pageant. I would like to simply say that being a part of Kids Making Miracles has been a life changing experience for me, and I feel blessed to have had this experience, and have been able to meet so many other people who have a desire to make a change and help those in need.
* This is a personal page for a senior capstone, and is not officially affiliated with Kids Making Miracles beyond my own experience with them.
KMM - what's it all about?
Kids Making Miracles began as a local coin drive at an elementary school, and has evolved since 1991 to include hundreds of different students at schools K-12 in Oregon and Washington. Currently there has been over $11 million raised for Doernbecher Children's Hospital through the Kids Making Miracles Foundation.
Each dollar that is raised by KMM participants helps Doernbecher Children's Hospital to address immediate pediatric health care needs, cure kids with cancer, mend broken hearts and bones, stop seizures, save the tiniest babies, and train the next generation of pediatric specialists.
Click this link to send a direct donation through the Kids Making Miracles for Doernbecher.
The mr. and Miss gervais pageant
The Mr. and Miss Gervais Pageant began nearly twenty years ago in honor of a younger member of the Gervais community named Jovita Reyes. The pageant is dedicated each year in her memory. Miss Jovita Reyes was a student at Gervais High School who was diagnosed with leukemia and was treated at Doernbecher Children's Hospital. She passed away on Thanksgiving day, 2000 from complications involving pneumonia.
Fellow classmates and members of the community wished to honor her memory as well as other families who are treated at Doernbecher Children's Hospital, and the dedication of the staff at Doernbecher's. The Mr. and Miss Gervais Pageant is entirely community supported. Since the initial pageant, Gervais students have raised over $200,000. This number becomes even more impressive when the population size of Gervais - 2,675 residents - is taken into consideration, in addition to the high poverty level of this community.
Fundraising for the pageant is through letter writing campaigns, "money jars" - which the contestants make, as well as donations at the door the night of the pageant. These are simply a few fundraising tactics that are used.
Fellow classmates and members of the community wished to honor her memory as well as other families who are treated at Doernbecher Children's Hospital, and the dedication of the staff at Doernbecher's. The Mr. and Miss Gervais Pageant is entirely community supported. Since the initial pageant, Gervais students have raised over $200,000. This number becomes even more impressive when the population size of Gervais - 2,675 residents - is taken into consideration, in addition to the high poverty level of this community.
Fundraising for the pageant is through letter writing campaigns, "money jars" - which the contestants make, as well as donations at the door the night of the pageant. These are simply a few fundraising tactics that are used.
what does the pageant consist of?
There are typically eight pageant contestants, four male contestants and four female contestants, who are nominated by the staff at Gervais High School. The contestants are held to high academic standards and must be dedicated individuals. These contestants are taken on a tour through Doernbecher Children's Hospital so they are able to form a connection with the hospital, the place, and the people that they are doing this work for. Practices for the pageant begin in November and occur twice weekly until February, at which time practices occur Monday through Saturday until the debut night which is the second Saturday evening in March. There is an opening dance segment before the contestants are introduced to the judges and audience. A volunteer choreographer helps to teach these (often uncoordinated) contestants routines. In total there are nine different dances. In addition to this there are talent, sport and fashion segments, followed by a formal wear and the final question segment. During the question segment, contestants are put on the spot and asked to answer a random question.
What are my responsibilities as a volunteer?
As a former contestant and coordinator for the Mr. and Miss Gervais Pageant I have a lot of experience with fundraising, organization and the other requirements. As a volunteer I help the contestants with letter writing campaigns - i.e. what to write, how to format letters, and proof reading them. I also help the main advisor by writing receipts for the donations that the students recieve. In addition to this I help to mentor the coordinators with things such as advertisements, editing the script and slideshows, contacting potential judges, and securing other student volunteers an assigning positions for wardrobe people, curtains, judge escorts and other positions. I also help mentor the contestants and give feedback and advice on talents and other segments. Overall however, I am there for support and do whatever I need to do in order to ensure a successful fundraiser and a fun pageant.